Changing of the Seasons
by bimmok123
Summary: Rewrite of another story(not owned by me but pretty sure it was abandoned cause it wasn't touched since 08) If owner of original wants me to stop just message me. Otherwise just read the story and be happy.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so I was going over multiple couples in my head and I realized I didn't have a HanaxNaruto pairing, so with this story I was hoping to fix it. My goal is to get a really good story on most of the Naruto couples as I can. It's a goal I may never achieve but who cares, got to set the goals high right?**

**Well without further delay here's the fanfic!**

**Review please! I don't own Naruto.**

**XXX** Chapter One **XXX**

*CRACK*

The impact of Naruto's fist slamming into Haku's hunter-nin mask flew the ice user through his own mirror constructs. Haku didn't know what power this blonde boy had, but it far surpassed his own, and his masters. Ashamed he had failed his master Zabuza, Haku struggled to stand on his own two feet again to accept death.

Naruto, still in his berserker rage flew at Haku with every intention of killing him and avenge his teammate. Haku knew it was pointless to attempt to dodge and he waited for death, as his mask began to slide off his face in pieces due to the damage from battle.

Haku was confused. Why wasn't he dead? Opening his eyes he saw a stunned Naruto, a fist an inch from crushing his skull. Soon the initial shock wore off and the demon container needed answers right now.

"Y-you! You're the b-boy form the forest! Why are you helping that creep Zabuza?" Naruto stammered out.

"you should know why, Naruto-san. Zabuza-sama saved me from the darkness in return for being his tool. He told me to help him fight you, and I did." Haku told Naruto while trying to stay standing.

Naruto definitely understood, but he didn't like it. The boy in front of him was so similar so him it was scary. Both were hated by their homes, but were saved. Foor Naruto it was the Sandaime Hokage, Tenten and Iruka-sensei. Was it really Haku's fault his savior was a less than pleasant individual? The demon container's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of what seemed to be chirping birds. Both boys looked over to see Kakashi about to kill Zabuza with a Raiton jutsu.

"I am sorry Naruto-san, but it seems like I can still be of some use left to Zabuza-sama." Haku said, while making a single ice mirror.

Haku stepped into the single mirror made of ice and it allowed him to speed toward the path of Kakashi's assassination jutsu. Meanwhile, Naruto subconsciously pumped some demoicc chakra into his legs and ran after Haku. He couldn't let the boy who was so similar to him get killed. The smell of flesh melting filled the air.

Standing in front of Zabuza were Naruto and Haku, Kakashi's fist sticking out of Naruto' and Haku's back. A fatal wound for both boys, their blood intermingling while their hearts were still able to beat.

Kakashi looked on in horror; he had just lost another one of his teammates, his own subordinate, accidentally killed by his own hand. Why did Naruto do it?

"K-ka-kashi-sensei… Sorry… Haku… like me…" Naruto whispered to his sensei.

After speaking his final words, Naruto slumped over, still being held up by kakashi's arm that was now being removed from the chests of the two ninja. Zabuza began to chuckle, snapping Kakashi from his thoughts.

"Well, it seems that Haku probed a useful tool after all. Shame he had to die to serve his purpose thought." Zabuza praised.

Clapping accompanied the arrival of Gatou and his thugs.

"Well well, it looks like the Demon of the mist is not much of a demon after all. Oh and your little friend died too, serves the brat right! Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway, we were going to kill you both after the bridge builder died anyway. Get him boys!" Gatou ordered.

The men began to charge but stopped when a spiral of red demonic chakra spilled forth from the blonde that was lying next to Haku's corpse. All looked on in horror as the sound of cracking bones accompanied the hole in the boy's destroyed chest being filled with new flesh. The boy seemed to grow taller before their eyes, his hair lightening to a bright icy blue and becoming wild. Fangs lengthened, nails became claws, and the whisker marks adorning the boy's face became thicker and deeper. Eventually the chakra died down and the boy struggled to his feet. The bandits were terrified by the cold killer look the jinchuriki's slitted red eyes held for them.

"**Play time!"** the jinchuriki yelled out at them.

In a blur the boy seemingly vanished before a thug suddenly found a clawed hand piercing his chest. Naruto ripped his hand out from the now lifeless body and ducked below two incoming swords. With a swipe of his claws one of the attackers had his chest slashed open. Turning around the demon container lunged at the other's throat, biting and tearing the man's windpipe out. While the other thugs stood still, shocked by the brutality, Naruto began a flurry of swipes and spins, removing heads, limbs, and destroying torsos with brutal efficiency. By the dozens men were being slaughtered by the genin. Kakashi was officially afraid of his student at this point, hoping that the demo fox had not escaped.

"Well I guess we don't need to fight anymore, so could your dogs let me god? I wanna kill Gatou before your brat gets him first." Zabuza said, prepared to kill the man who dared try to cheat him out of payment for a job.

Kakashi nodded dumbly and unsummoned his nin-gods. Zabuza was gravely wounded by still joined Naruto in slaughtering the bandits. For every bandit the Demon of the Mist took down he was impaled by another weapon. Gatou was horrified, his army was being reduced to nothing before his eyes. After a few quick moments that seemed like an eternity Zabuza and Naruto were standing before the short shipping tycoon. Zabuza held his arm in front of Naruto to stop him, and the boy managed to calm down from his bloodlust. Back in control, Naruto had no idea of what he had just done.

"Sorry brad, this bastard is mine!" Zabuza told the demon container while holding his arm out to stop the boy from trying anything. Zabuza grabbed his massive blade and struck.

And so the reign of Gatou ended by his head rolling off his shoulders. Satisfied, Zabuza collapsed and was caught by Naruto.

"Hey brat… I'm not gonna make it… but I'd like to see Haku one last time before I die…" Zabuza whispered to the genin, he didn't have the strength for much else.

The boy nodded and carried the badly bleeding missing-nin toward his fallen friend. He settled Zabuza down gently.

Using what strength he could, Zabuza raised a hand to touch face of his apprentice, "Haku… I know you are going to a much better place than me, but I wish that I could join you. I'm… I'm sorry I treated you like a tool; you were like a son to me. Goodbye… Haku-kun… And you, brat" Zabuza turned only his eyes to Naruto who was standing on the other side of Haku's body now, "Take my blade, the Kubikiribocho. Use it… well. Don't come visit me… too soon you… got that? Later brat." Zabuza whispered out the last two words as his eyes slowly shut in death's embrace.

Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the mist, was dead. Naruto grasped the handle of the Kubikiribocho and held it out if front of him in awe. The zanbato was incredibly heavy, but with chakra flowing thorugh the muscles of his arms he was able to at least carry it. Next, Naruto walked over to the remnants of Haku's mask andblaced both halves into his empty weapons bouch. Naruto then noticed that Sakura was wailing over a now awakened Sasuke, and Kakashi was behind him.

"Naruto, do you have any idea what just happened? Is the seal okay? Am I even still talking to Naruto?" Kakashi asked of his student, on guard in case he was attacked.

"Oi! Kakashi-sensei, it's me, no idea what happened thought. I remember trying to save Haku, and the next thing I recall was Gatou was dead. I think the seal is okay." Naruto explained to Kakashi.

Kakashi accepted that for now. He was glad that his students were indeed okay, Naruto did not remember him slaughtering over a hundred men, and neither Sasuke or Sakura had seen what happened. Naruto had enough problems interacting with others, the last thing he needed as his teammates completely terrified of him. The copy ninja was intrigued that Zabuza passed his sword onto Naruto, although the boy had grown enough to potentially use it. That probably had something to do with the fox, but Naruto didn't know what happened and Kakashi didn't have the ability to investigate further until they got back to Konoha.

"Kakashi-sensei, why does everything seem smaller?" asked Naruto with his head tilted to the side in confusion.

Well that proved it was still Naruto. Only he could not notice that he had grown over a head taller than he used to be, or how he was completely covered with blood. Kakashi hoped Naruto would think that it was his own and Haku's.

"Naruto… after you tried to save Haku, demonic chakra come out of the seal and healed you, but it also seemed to break your bones and make you taller. I am not really sure, but I think it was because of your tenant. We'll have to talk with the Hokage about this when we get back." Kakashi explained, mumbling to himself that he didn't sign up for this when he decided to take on a genin team.

"Sure Kakashi-sensei. Hey sensei, could you help me bury Haku and Zabuza? They deserve at least that much, and I doubt Sakura-chan or Sasuke would help." Naruto asked, praying his sensei would say yes, to which he only received a nod from the masked jonin.

Sakura and Sasuke had both fallen unconscious. Sakura, in relief for her Sasuke-kun being alive, and Sasuke due to Sakura squeezing him as hard as she did with his injuries. After Kakashi agreed to help Naruto, he grabbed both of his other students and used Shunshin to take him back to Tazuna's house. After a few moments Kakashi returned and helped Naruto with the bodies.

*** Away from the bridge ***

Naruto led Kakashi to the clearing in the forest where he met and befriended Haku after explaining their lives. Making some simple markers for their graves using some tree branches and rope, he and Kakashi lowered the two bodies into the graves. Naruto placed the right half of Haku's mask into the grave with the boy's body.

"Zabuza… Haku… I'm… I'm sorry it had to end this way. I know for sure that had we met under different circumstances we would have been friends. I promise now on your dewaths that I will make you bth proud. Zabuza, thanks to you I finally realize how stupid I've been. Before this mission I thought that being a ninja was all about flashy moves and being cool. I realize now that this is a dangerous and serious lifestyle, and my life could end at any moment. I hope I can do my best to grow strong. Haku, you showed me that I can oly be truly strong when protecting someone I love. I'll keep both of you with me always." Naruto spoke to the bodies, hoping Zabuza and Haku could hear him.

Naruto took the other half of Haku's mask and placed it over the left side of his face, attaching it with some chakra.

"haku, you will be my armor, you will help protect me and all who I love." Naruto swore.

Grabbing the giant blade, Kubikiribocho, he held it over Zabuza's body, chakra flowing through his arm.

"Zabuza, your sword will help me stop those who threaten my friends and allies." Naruto said while slashing the massive blade once.

Having said what he needed to say, Naruto pulled the half mask off his face, storing it in his pouch, and began to cover the bodies of Zabuza and Haku. Kakashi stood behind his student radiating pride, although he knew Naruto would never be the same after this mission, but he diddn't realize how much the deaths of Zabuza and Haku had changed the jinchuriki.

*** Tazuna's House ***

Kakashi and his student returned to Tazuna's house late in the evening. Everyone had gone to sleep after the day's events. Kakashi and Naruto were both exhausted as well. The boy bid Kakashi a good night, setting his pouch containing the mask and the zanbato next to him and went to sleep.

*** Naruto's Mindscape ***

Naruto awoke in unfamiliar surroundings. It appeared to be a dark sewer. The boy began exploring the slightly flooded pathways and entered a room with a large gate. On the doors of the gate was a slip of paper bearing the kanji word for 'Seal'. As he neared the gate a claw shot out from the gate almost taking his head off.

"**Hello human. Welcome to my humble abode."** An ominous voice range out.

"K-Kyubi! What are you doing here?!" Naruto stammered out.

"**We're in your mind you baka! I need to explain some things to you and this was easier than me trying to rip my way through this impassible seal and talking to you out there."** The Kyubi told Naruto in a sarcastic voice.

"You sure as hell do! What the hell happened on the bridge?" Naruto ordered to the source of his suffering in the village.

"**Well, you got the brilliant idea to get a hand shoved through your chest. I had to fix the damage. My regeneration works through rapid multiplication of cells near the damage area. In the process of healing the gaping hole I guess some of the other human's blood was multiplied as well. Turns out that other brat had a strong dominant bloodline and using his cells to repair you caused a chain reaction leading to most of your body being altered to accompany the genetic material of the bloodline. I took some… liberties to alter you a bit while I was at it. I had to removed any impurities of the bloodline that occurred over the generations, as well as made you taller, and increased your muscle mass a bit. You embarrass me still, but not quite as much as before."** The fox explain as he looked over his handy work.

Naruto stood there for a while trying to process all of this information. He had a bloodline. The Kyubi directly altered his body without his permission. How could the Kyubi do that?

"**When you used my chakra as much as you did I gained some control of your body. Please do so much more often, it was rather fun helping and watching you slaughter all of those puny men on that bridge. Here, I'll let you see, since you don't remember all the fun you had."** The Kyubi told Naruto, reading the boys thoughts and chuckling as the memories of the slaughter now replaying for the boy.

"…No… I couldn't have… You... you made me do it!" The now traumatized boy muttered out.

"**I did no such thing human. You used my chakra, you wanted those men dead. I just helped a little. Now get out of here and let me out more often to play!"** The last order barked out before kicking Naruto out of his own mind and back to the waking world.

*** Tazuna's house ***

Naruto awoke sweating profusely and quickly took in a large breath of air. That was too real to be a dream. He never remembered his dreams; abut whatever happened was not a dream. There was no way he was going to go to sleep again so he slipped on his backpack, grabbed his weapon pouch and grabbed Zabuza's sword. Immediately after enter the forest outside the house, the memories of what he had done returned once more, causing the demon container to vomit at the brutality of it all.

'_I can't let that ever happen again, so I need to become strong enough to not need the demon. I doubt I can ever forgive myself for what I have done, but I need to learn from my mistakes. If I really do have Haku's bloodline I should probably see if I can find where he and Zabuza were staying. Since Haku was the last in his bloodline he probably made notes as he developed his own techniques with it. I won't let myself be the idiot any longer. I'm going to learn how to use my new power and protect Konoha and its_ _people.' _Naruto thought, his eyes showing his old fierce determination.

Naruto recalled that Kiba could increase his senses by putting chakra into his eyes, ears or nose. Naruto attempted pushing chakra to his nose and the result was rather overwhelming.

'_I need to remember to work on chakra control more, that was WAY too much._ Naruto noted, having received such a massive boost to his sense of smell he almost passed out from sensory overload. The next attempt was more manageable. He pulled out Haku's mask sniffing it before putting it away and attempting to find a scent trail. After wandering around for a half hour he picked up a trail. The jinchuriki quickly followed the scent to Zabuza and Haku's hideout.

*** The Hideout ***

The place was rather simple, but he knew it wasn't a permanent residence. Despite this it was rather well put together. He found Zabuza's room first. The decorations were nonexistent, but he did make a rather interesting find. In a drawer was a scroll of Suiton techniques, most likely stolen from Kirigakure, as well as a scroll depicting his Kenjutsu's style and tips on his Silent Killing technique as well and a storage scroll which he just placed them all into his backback..

The blue-haired boy looked down at his shredded clothes and searched for something to wear due to being around Zabuza's height now. He found some couple pairs of basic black pants and black muscle shirts. Naruto put the new clothes on and stored the rest in his backpack, after which he continued his search of the room. After finding nothing else of note, the boy entered the other room.

Haku's room held much more warmth than Zabuza's there were a few pieces of furniture outside of the bed. Naruto felt bad for stealing from these two men, but he needed any help he could get. He knew he was weak. He only beat Haku ecause of the damn fox. Naruto never wanted to use the fox's power again after learning what it let the fox do, and what he did when he used it. Shortly after that thought he found a chest containing several scrolls.

Inside the scrolls were some very excellent finds. Not only did one scroll contain notes on Haku's bloodline, but there was one on using one handed seals as well. There were several scrolls on human anatomy, with annotations, most likely made by Haku himself as well. Placing all of the scrolls into his backpack on top of his new clothes he turned an noticed his reflection in the mirror.

"HOLY HELL! My hair is blue! Well this is… different…" Naruto said out loud, wondering when the surprises were going to cease.

After a few more minutes of looking around Naruto exited the hideout where he noticed a new scent, that of a fox. It wasn't the Kyubi as it was sealed inside Naruto so it couldn't have a smell could it? Curious, he moved around the house to investigate. Turning a corner he found a black fox with two tails tied to a tree.

'_Must be another pet of Haku's like that rabbit was, I should let it go otherwise it would starve._' Naruto thought. He had a soft spot for animals since they never treated him any different from other people.

After removing the rope around the fox's neck he expected it to go running off into the words. Instead it just stared at him for a bit before the silence was broken.

"Thanks mister!" a chipper feminine voice said.

Naruto jumped at the sound. He didn't sense anyone nearby.

Placing his hand on the handle his blade he starting whipping his head side to side looking for the source of the voice, "Who's there? Who said that?" Naruto demanded.

"I did silly; look down in front of you." The voice from before said.

"I only see a fox." Naruto stated, eyes still shifting slightly and his body still tense.

"That's because I am a fox, duh!" the voice said, the fox looking up at him what could be classified a grin on its face.

"Strange question, but how the hell are you able to talk?!" Naruto asked, slowly questioning if he was going crazy or not.

"Hmm… Well I'm just doing what I normally do, maybe it's you who can understand me like I can understand you even though we don't speak the same language." The fox said sitting in front of him while the tails sway slightly.

'_Well I guess Kiba can understand Akamaru when he barks. This is probably because of the Kyubi-bastard.'_ Naruto concluded, great now he could talk to foxes. While he had nothing against it or anything he began to wonder how many more surprises were going to hit him.

"I see… So what's your name? I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said, introducing himself with a slight bow.

"Haku-kun called me Koko! I smell him on you, where is he?" greeted the newly named Koko, perking up hoping to hear about Haku while looking around to see if he was near.

Koko watched as Naruto's face fell at the mention of Haku. Whatever the boy in front of her was going to say it wasn't good. Haku was very nice to her, but she did wish Haku would let her fight alongside him even if his kind was endangered.

"I'm very sorry Koko… Haku is dead…" Naruto sadly told the fox in front of him.

Koko was surprised that Naruto pulled her into a hug. The Nibi-Foxes were hunted down after the Kyubi's attack, them all thinking that they were spawns of the Kyubi itself and not wanted to have a repeat if any of them grew up so she wasn't used to too many people being kind to her.

Koko was found as a little kit by Haku and Zabuza on their journey and Haku decided to keep her and she grew to like Haku. She would even keep Haku entertained whenever Zabuza left for a while to do business. Now that Haku was dead where was she supposed to go? She supposed she could try living in the wild, but she was afraid she'd be found and killed like many of her kind before her. Maybe this boy Naruto would let her come with him.

"Thank you Naruto-san. I have only just met you, but you have shown me great kindness. I would like to come with you if you'd let me. I've always wanted to be a nin-fox since Haku found me but he always kept me as a pet instead of an ally who could aid him in battle." Koko asked with hope gleaming in her eyes that he would agree.

"I umm… Well… I guess that would be fine. I should warn you thought, people at home don't like foxes very much. Almost 13 years ago the Kyubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha and killed a lot of people before it was finally sealed in me. Most people see me as a demon sometimes, and decide to take their pain out on me, so I wouldn't want to put you into danger like that, especially with you being a fox with two tails." Naruto explained to the Kitsune, not realizing he had just told a complete stranger that he was the container of the Kyubi, even if it was just a fox.

"I'm glad for your concern, but I hope you will find that we can protect each other. I may not look like it but I am strong, I won't let anyone hurt you." Koko promised Naruto. She didn't mention the Kyubi since she imagined that if the village was hurting him for it that it would be a touch subject.

"Thanks Koko, I won't let anyone hurt you either. Let's go do some training. I can't sleep, and we can't go into battle together if we don't practice can we?" Naruto asked rhetorically, wearing a smirk on his face.

Naruto received a yip of approval from his new partner, the two of them moved quickly to a clearing near Tazuna's house. Naruto formed a few clones and ran through a few different drills to work on his teamwork with Koko. He found out that his new nin-fox companion was very adept at finding his shadow clones and sneaking up on them. While she didn't have the physical strength to do a whole lot of damage, she was very fast and had something Naruto never expected, she was able to breathe a little fire, though it tired her out quickly.

While Koko did seem to have decent stamina, it couldn't hold a candle to Naruto's but then again who could? After taking all of the training, she curled up by a tree for a nap. While she slept, Naruto began practicing the Katas so he could use his newly obtained weapon in battle. This was when he learned that he needed to train a lot more first before he could actually use the blade. So he chose the first few katas and ran threw them again and again, making vertical and horizontal slashes through the air. The sword was still very heavy to him but he figured if he kept practicing, it wouldn't be a problem for him and he might be able to find an advantage out of the excessive weight.

As time continued to move forward, Naruto's muscles aching from the strenuous work, he looked into the sky to see the sun slowly was making its ascension in the sky. This gave Naruto enough light for him to look over the other scrolls he had taken. The blue-haired boy figured that it would be best to work on the techniques that were not part of his bloodline, and learn anatomy. He couldn't remember if they taught much about it at the academy, and he was mad that he didn't take his education seriously. Naruto read about the basics of the human body for an hour before his boundless energy made it hard for him to sit still and read. He would have to work on his patience later, especially if he was going to use the Silent Killing technique, but for now he needed to do something else.

Grabbing the Suiton scroll he found in Zabuza's room, he quickly looked at the first jutsu in the scroll. It was a jutsu he knew all too well thanks to the mission. **Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Jutsu)** was a D-rank technique that let him pull water from the air into a dense mist. According to the scroll it could be used anywhere, but it worked best near water. Always enjoying a challenge Naruto stayed by Koko to practice the jutsu.

Naruto focused on the sir around him and imagined the air around him thickening while he did the hand signs. The result of his attempt were rather pitiful, but he didn't expect to get it on the first try either. He kept working at it until Koko finally woke up around 7 am by the suns reference. She woke up to a thick enough mist that she could only see a few feet in front of her.

"Naruto-kun was this your doing?" Koko asked, trying to find Naruto since his scent was everywhere. She finally found him using her hearing and he had his mega-watt smile on.

"You bet Koko! I've been practicing for hours. The others are probably up by now, I say we go meet up with them for some breakfast. I'll even introduce you to my team and the family we're staying with." The blue-haired ninja told his new companion. In truth the smile was a mask, well half of one. He has happy he was getting the jutsu down, but was still disgusted with himself about how he killed the men on the bridge. He kept smiling as he thought it over, keeping to himself so he would worry the Kitsune.

The air began to clear as Naruto deactivated the jutsu and he could see the clearing fully. Koko quickly ran up his leg to his shoulder and he scratched her ear for a few seconds before bending down and picking up his things. Together they sped off towards Tazuna's house.

As they got closer Naruto could smell breakfast cooking already and went inside, announcing his arrival. "Hey guys, I'm back! And I've found a little friend!" the energetic ninja yelled out.

Koko couldn't help but shake her head at her new partner's antics before following him into the house. Tsunami walked out of the kitchen to greet the blonde boy, only to find no blonde on his head.

"Hey there Naru…to…kun…" Tsunami stammered out, trying to figure out who was now standing in front of her. It looked like Naruto only he was taller and his hair now ice-blue instead of blonde.

"Oh, hey Tsunami-san. Why are you looking at me like that? Oh yeah that's right! Only Kakashi has seen the 'new me'. I'll explain at breakfast so I only have to say it once." Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Tsunami nodded dumbly before going back to making breakfast, trying to figure out exactly what happened to Naruto. Said boy placed his zanbato against the wall, careful so as not to scratch up the floor, before sitting down at the table. Koko walked up beside the blue-haired boy and decided to curl up in his lap, both of them waiting for breakfast to be read.

*** Breakfast ***

Sakura and Sasuke grumbled sleepily as they slowly walked downstairs to breakfast. Sasuke was wondering where his idiot teammate was since the dead-last was gone before he woke, and he knew Naruto was a heavy sleeper. His question was replaced with another question after he saw a taller, older looking version of Naruto but with pale blue hair sitting at the table with a black fox sitting his is lap. Sasuke was about to demand to know who he was but was beaten by someone much louder.

"Who the hell are you?!" Sakura screeched, hoping he wasn't there to hurt her Sasuke-kun. Only Naruto noticed the cringe of the fox from the loud noise.

"Oi, Sakura-chan, Sasuke! It's me Naruto. I know I look different but I'll explain once everyone is down here; and if you could please be a little quieter, we haven't even had breakfast yet." Naruto said, as he softly petted Koko.

Sakura decided to ignore that last comment and continue, "You better you baka! And what with the fox?"

"It's all part of my explanation." Naruto told Sakura, not wanting to repeat himself several times over.

Neither of them really wanted to accept that, but they knew Naruto was very stubborn so they didn't bother arguing about it. Both genin were trying to take in Naruto's new appearance while they waited for everyone else. He was much taller, and seemed more muscular than before, but not overly muscular. He was wearing new clothes, but they just figured he bought them in town before any of them got up. The other obvious difference about Naruto was his hair. To them he was no longer a blonde idiot but now a blue-haired idiot instead. Sakura idly thought that Naruto was much better looking now, but still refused to think that he could compare to 'her Sasuke-kun'. Proud of her loyalty to the emo-Uchiha she turned to him and smiled brightly. Sasuke ignored the girl and figured that while the dead last may have gotten bigger and had a dye job, the idiot was pathetic compared to himself. He was however curious about why Zabuza's sword was against the wall near Naruto though. He could use it to kill _him_, decided that he must have it.

After a few minutes breakfast was done cooking and everyone else in the household joined the three genin at the table. Naruto grew rather nervous at the stares from the house, being used to people that stared at him would end up attacking him. Rubbing the back of his head nervously while giving them his big patented fox grin he figured he should start explaining.

"I guess you all are wondering why I look different huh?" Naruto asked already knowing what their answer would be.

He received nods from everyone, and took note that Kakashi was paying attention to him probably waiting to hear his explanation.

"Okay, well I guess during the fight on the bridge I activated a bloodline. I'm not really sure what I ccan do yet other than my physical changes. Fox here," Picking Koko up to show everyone, "Is Koko. I found her in the woods wondering around since I wasn't able to sleep. She likes me so I thought I'd keep her." Naruto explained, trying to leave out as many details as possible while still keeping to the truth as well. He just was hoping they'd take the explanation at face-value and drop the subject entirely.

Kakashi knew his student wasn't telling everything, but he probably didn't want to tell his teammates too much information. He was very curious about the fox as well, especially since he had never seen a fox with more than one tail.

"Hey dead-last, what is Zabuza's sword doing here?" the Uchiha prodigy asked.

"Oh yeah, before he died Zabuza told me he wanted me to learn to use his sword." Naruto stated, acting as if it was no big deal.

To say that the Uchiha was mad at this was quite an understatement. "What?! How could a dead-last like you learn to use a sword? Zabuza should have given his sword to me! Give me the sword dead-last, I can use it to kill _him_!" an angry Sasuke yelled out.

"No." Naruto stated simply, while petting Koko.

"WHAT?!" asked Sasuke, getting even angrier by the second.

"I said no, Zabuza wanted me to have the sword and I will honor his dying wish." Naruto stated again, this time looking the Uchiha in the eyes, hoping he'd get the picture.

Being the last surviving Uchiha, Sasuke didn't really know the meaning of the word 'no' since he was basically given anything he asked for. Enraged at his teammate, Sasuke jumped out of his seat he ran toward the sword. Everyone was surprised at his actions and didn't move to stop him, including Naruto. It didn't matter in the end, as soon as Sasuke's hand wrapped around the grip of the massive blade, spikes shot out, piercing his hand. He pulled his hand back falling over and yelling in pain, as he clutched his injured hand to his chest.

"NARUTO! What did you do to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled at Naruto, punching him in the head. Koko say Sakura's hit connect and she growled at her as he tails trashed around a bit. She just met his teammates and she already knew she didn't like them.

Naruto was sort of used to getting hit by now whenever Sakura was upset, "What? I didn't do anything to him. Maybe it just didn't like him or something." Naruto said rubbing where she had him. He was hoping that she would at least be happy that he had activated his bloodline (or well absorbed it), and obtained a sword, but he finally figured that there was no reason to try to impress her anymore. She only had eyes for the arrogant bastard that was rolling on the floor clutching his hand.

Kakashi was rather ashamed of the actions of the genin. He expected them to act much better than they had. He could also see the hurt in Naruto's eyes from his teammates not accepting him, and he knew that he was alright filled with enough hurt.

"Sasuke, Sakura, that's enough the sword is Naruto's so don't try to steal it again. Do I make myself clear? Sakura, the sword most likely has a self-defense seal on it so only those allowed to wield it. Naruto made no action himself to hurt Sasuke so hitting him and blaming him for it was uncalled for. Now then, I'd like to talk with Naruto outside for a bit." Kakashi scolded as both him and Naruto stepped outside with Koko following behind Naruto.

Breakfast continued as normally as it could, following events like that. Kakashi led Naruto a good distance away from the house before stopping and turning to his student.

"Alright Naruto, I know for a fact you weren't tell the whole story; But I need to know exactly what happened." Kakashi demanded.

Naruto sighed, he figured he would have to explain this to Kakashi and the Hokage later though it didn't mean he wanted to tell them.

"Okay Kakashi-sensei, I'll tell you what the Kyubi told me and what happened afterwards." Naruto said waiting for the reaction to this bit of news before continuing.

Kakashi's eye widened at the mention of the Kyubi, which didn't go unnoticed by Koko or Naruto. Naruto was in touch with the demon inside him? This could be very bad.

"Yeah I met the Kyubi. He's a bit of an ass, but he was the cause of all my changes. He used Haku's blood to help heal the hole in my chest which led to me getting a purified form of haku's bloodline. Apparently using the chakra of the Kyubi allows him much more control over my body versus the already nonexistent control he has the rest of the time. I never want to use that bastard's chakra again. I know what he did to those thugs on the bridge yesterday." Naruto said, whispering the last part while looking down as the events played again in his mind.

A reassuring hand on his shoulder from Kakashi helped him to continue his story, "After walking up from the meeting with him, I wasn't capable of going back to sleep. I thought since I had Haku's bloodline I should see if he had any notes on his technique, wherever he and Zabuza had been staying. I tried to use a sense enhancing technique from a friend of mine, Inuzuka Kiba, he had mentioned it in class and I found the place. I found his notes and some clothes to change into since mine were just rags really. I also found Koko there, Haku was keeping her as a pet even though she told me she wanted to be a nin-fox. I was hoping to make that official when we get back to Konoha, Kami knows I need at least someone I can depend on to work with if Sakura' and Sasuke's actions are anything to go by. I am not too sure I can fully trust Sasuke again after his stunt, and Sakura just follows his lead no matter what." Naruto finished explaining, leaving out the information about the scrolls Zabuza had which were all probably stolen from Kirigakure.

Kakashi had noticed that Naruto didn't add the –chan to Sakura's name but he let it slide for now. "She told you?" Kakashi asked, hoping to get a better clarification on that matter.

"Yep, I can understand what she says. I think it has something to do with my housing the Kyubi inside me but whatever." The jinchuriki said, hoping he didn't have to face the demon later to figure it out.

Kakashi nodded, as he filed the new information for later use. It sounded so far-fetched, but then again this was Konoha's Most Unpredictable Ninja he was dealing with here. Normal logic just didn't seem to fit, and he didn't see any lie in Naruto's words but he was going to have to inform the Hokage about all of this as soon as they got back. He had hoped that Naruto didn't remember what had happened on the bridge, since that could easily traumatize anyone, but now he thought he was fine. He said it was the fox and that it happened because he used his chakra, and now he seemed determined to never use his chakra.

"Alright Naruto, we'll have to talk with the Hokage when we get back. I agree with your decision to not use the fox's chakra. Nobody had any idea what using it would do it you and now we have some form of an idea as to what will happen. I'm sorry about Sasuke's actions earlier. I will also be having a talk with him later about respecting the property of others. I'd ask you to give them a second chance, but I know how people are, especially you, about people who break that trust." Kakashi told his student before dismissing him. Kakashi sighed, _'I did not sign up for this, why do I have to have the most difficult team to work with?'_ Kakashi thought.

Naruto was glad that Kakashi was his sensei. I mean sure he wasn't the best at teaching, well okay he was pretty horrible at it, but he was a pretty good guy once you get past the his tardiness and his addiction to porn.

*** Time Skip one Week ***

One week went by as the bridge was finished due to the newly motivated workers and the large amounts of clones Naruto lent for labor. With their job now finished, Team 7 was ready to head back home to report the missions success.

Naruto had spent most of his free time practicing with his new blade, Suiton jutsu, and Koko who had stayed close to him cause he didn't like her companion's teammates. The other two on Naruto's team were still mad at him, despite him not doing anything, so they pretty much left him alone for the most part.

After all of the goodbyes and the tear filled goodbye from Naruto to Inari, Tazuna and his family watched the ninja that had changed so much for their village head back to Konoha.

"Well the bridge is done, but it needs a super name!" the elder bridge builder said.

"How about the 'Great Naruto Bridge' Ojii-san?" Inari suggested to his grandfather.

"I think that is the perfect name for it," Tazuna said as he hugged his grandson to him as they turned to the fleeting sight of Team 7


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I hope you all liked the previous chapter. Well I don't want to hold anyone up so I'll just move right onto the next one!**

**Review please! I don't own Naruto, (psh I wish)**

**XXX** Chapter 2 **XXX**

The trip back to Konoha from their mission was rather tame compared to what the team had already experienced over the last month. Without a civilian to escort somewhere they were able to move a lot faster, however Sakura was having problems keeping up with the quick pace that Kakashi had set. They ended up having to slow down frequently for her, which slowly was getting on everyone's nerves. Sasuke had spent most of the trip just glaring at Naruto, as if he was trying to burn a whole in the back of his head, while Sakura fawned over him. Sakura and Sasuke were even more upset at Naruto after they found out he was thinking of wearing part of Haku's mask during the missions.

Kakashi for the most part had to keep his own team from fighting each other, which Sasuke had attempted on numerous occasions only to be scolded by Kakashi for attempting it. As a result Naruto spent most of his time away from the two other genin and ran alongside Koko for the most part, training at night with her and Kubikiribocho during the evenings; and since he wasn't sleeping all that well as his nights were slowly being plagued by nightmares.

At the moment Naruto was taking a break from training with his blade when Koko asked to speak with him away from the others.

"Naruto-kun, it isn't my place, but something has me worried about you." Koko told Naruto, concern lacing into her voice.

"What is it Koko-can? You know you can tell me anything." Naruto told her, wondering what could have the Kitsune worried.

"I know you aren't sleeping, it's clearly evident on your face with the bags under your eyes. I can tell you left something out when you talked with Kakashi-san that bothered you." Koko said, getting a surprised reaction from Naruto.

"I… It's just, I don't want to worry anyone. I thought I could deal with it myself, you know cope with it on my own, but it seems I can't. Every time I sleep I just see… What I did." Naruto said is a soft whisper, ashamed and hoping that she wouldn't leave him after she found out what he had done.

"Just tell me what happened, Naruto-kun." Koko said, sitting down in front of her companion making sure he knew he had her undivided attention.

"On… on the bridge the Kyubi influenced my emotions. There were so many thugs there. I… kami, I killed so many of them. I slaughtered almost everyone, and worst yet I… I enjoyed it." Naruto explained, sitting down and hugging his legs to his chest waiting for Koko to hate him.

"Oh Naruto-kun, you poor thing," Koko said quickly pushing herself in between his knees and chest, "It isn't your fault. All foxes know of the blood lust of Kyubi and how it can affect anyone. Do you want me to sleep by you when you sleep? It might help keep the nightmares away." Koko offered to the fragile boy.

Naruto looked at the Kitsune with a tear forming in his right eye, "… Thank you Koko-chan." A smile ghosting over his face as he pulled her into his arms.

Koko could tell that her companion was very vulnerable right now, it being his first time he'd taken a life and all, unfortunately she didn't know how to help except be there for him.

As the genin squad continued toward home, whenever they stopped to rest Koko could be seen with Naruto. Her very presence seemed to calm him down a bit and the haunted look didn't seem to be there, or at least not as obvious. During the rest of the trip Naruto and Koko pretty much stayed to themselves, waiting for everyone to leave and do their own thing before he would pull out one of the scrolls and begin memorizing, or would grab a leaf and being elemental manipulation training with water. He had read it in the first scroll he had finished and he wanted to try it out.

It was odd for Naruto, he never really liked reading, but now it gave his mind something else to do. His nightmares seemed to kept at bay with the words, and he vowed to start reading more.

When they were within half a day of Konoha, Kakashi finally told them all to pick up the pace so they could get back and make their report. Within a few hours of traveling at top speed, they made it back.

"Halt!" One of the guards at the gate said.

Kakashi stepped in front of the squad, "Team Seven, consisting of Hatake Kakashi as jōnin sensei and genin Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto returning from C Rank mission." He said.

The guard grabbed a clipboard and after scanning it for a few seconds gave a nod, "Alright your clear to go on in and make your report to the Hokage right away, as soon as we see all of your identification." The guard said.

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke had no problem producing the information that was asked. Naruto however did not look like his id, and the guard didn't like the idea of letting a fox into Konoha either.

"You are not Uzumaki Naruto, and I don't know what you're trying to play at by bringing _**that**_ into Konoha. Have you no respect?" demanded the first guard. He had hated the demon brat for what it had done to Konoha as well as his family. He thought the brat found another fox demon to help destroy Konoha.

Naruto having expected something like this, wasn't angry at the insult thrown at him. He had been far too used to the blind hatred of the village. But he was seething mad that they would take their hatred for him out on an innocent, like Koko.

Naruto having enough did something Kakashi was surprised at. He stood up for himself. "I am indeed Uzumaki Naruto. During the mission I activated a loodline that changed me physically. Also I would appreciate it if you were not hostile towards my companion." Naruto said, his tone calm and even, though underlined with defiance. Koko, during the trip, had been working on him keeping himself level headed like she had seen Haku do many times.

"Why you brat…" The Chūnin growled out as he made a threatening step forward. Kakashi seeing this moved in and gave his own glare that everyone knew would mean trouble. When he spoke he began to try to defuse the situation, but didn't let go of his stance.

"My student is correct. We will be heading to the Hokage to give an immediate report on our mission as well as update Naruto's identification. I will also be reporting this incident to the Hokage as well." Kakashi finished. He somehow managed to say the statement with a lazy tone that was also filled with venom at the same time. He refused to allow one of his students to be harassed in such a way on his watch.

The guards, having no choice now, were forced to let them in. The last thing they wanted was the Hokage coming down on their heads for this incident if it went any worse.

Team Seven traveled by the rooftops of the buildings to avoid any civilians for Naruto and Koko's sake, who was currently riding on the icy blue haired teen's shoulder. In a few minutes they were in the Hokage Tower. The Hokage was obviously expecting them as they were seen right in without even asking.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

If the Hokage was surprised at Naruto's new looks, then he hid it very well.

"Welcome back Team Seven. I assume your mission proved to be… interesting?" The Sandaime asked.

Kakashi stepped forward to give his mission report. He a few details though, such as Naruto's use of the Kyūbi's chakra and his slaughtering of the thugs. The Hokage dismissed Sakura and Sasuke, telling them to come pick up their payment the next day, keeping Kakashi, Naruto, and Koko who was now sitting at attention by the teens feet.

After the door closed behind the two departing teens, the aged Kage turned his ever wise gaze on the jōnin, "Now, why don't you tell me exactly what happened on that bridge?" The Hokage asked, after he quickly activated his own privacy barrier. He was expecting a lot more than what Kakashi had first given him.

Naruto stepped up this time and explained his meeting with the Kyūbi, his new bloodline, obtaining Zabuza's sword and ending with the meeting of Koko. The Hokage was worried about the fox gaining control over Naruto so he asked to see the seal so he could inspect it.

After a quick inspection, and finding the seal to be perfectly intact, Hiruzen took his seat once more. "Well, that is quiet the tale. Obviously these details will be an S-class secret that shall never be spoken to anyone other than the Hokage themselves, understand?" Hiruzen said, his tone brokering no arguments and gaining swift head nods even from the fox. "As for your friend here, I will go ahead and register her as an animal companion similar to the dogs of the Inuzuka. I have a spare hitai-ate for her to wear if she'd life. Hopefully seeing that she is a registered companion will stop any hostilities towards her, but still do be careful. Naruto I need you to come back tomorrow so we can update your registration. Also you will need to stop by the animal hospital near the Inuzuka compound today, Koko here will need to have a full medical exam before she can be officially registered. Dismissed." The Hokage ordered, although he was still concerned for Naruto. He always had thought of Naruto as his grandson, blood be damned.

Naruto and Kakashi bowed in respect and turned and left the office. Once outside, he kneeled down and tied the black banded hitai-ate around Koko's neck and both quickly went off to complete the many tasks they had before tomorrow.

The first of these tasks was to find new clothes. He was still wearing the shredded remnants of his old clothes since he couldn't find any others that fit at all, and his skills at repairing clothes went about as far as just minor tears.

The second was to find someone who could actually teach him Kenjutsu. He might have scrolls on the style, but without someone to help correct his forms, or offer advise it would be difficult to learn. That and he didn't know anything about Kenjutsu. He also hoped to find any book on seals that he could get his hands on. He still had the Kubikiribōchō in a storage scroll that Kakashi had let him borrow, but he knew he would have to learn how to do his own seals.

Then the final thing was a veterinarian trip for Koko and then food for the both of them. Yep lots to do.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Having taken the roof with Koko, the two companions made their way to the shopping district of Konoha. Here Naruto's ears seemed to hurt a little from all the noise, but he just tuned it all out and focusing on his task.

Having gotten to the store he wanted, he motioned for Koko to stay on the roof and out of sight for a bit. The jinchūriki felt bad about leaving her there, but he just didn't have the time to be kicked out of the shop. Taking advantage of his new appearance, and hoping word hadn't gotten around about it, he walked right into the shop after coming up his whisker marks. He was immediately greeted by the owner in a cheerful fashion, which was a major change of pace. Had he been recognized he would have either been assaulted or just thrown out.

"Hey there," Naruto spoke to the shop keeper, "I just returned from a mission and my clothes were pretty much destroyed. Could you help me find clothes in my size?" Naruto asked.

"Absolutely sir! Please, right this way," The portly man said, glad to have a new customer in his shop.

The blue-haired boy browsed through the various clothing racks. He figured since he now had a new look, he should also have a new wardrobe to go with it.

The first thing he picked out were several sleeveless fishnet undershirts. To go with those he found a dark blue sleeveless vest, with a white fur collar around the neck. The pockets of the vest would be useful to carry the scrolls he planned on learning to make. For the pants he found some black cargo pants, made of a durable fabric. With all of that and black shinobi sandals, he was set. He already had some training clothes, so he picked up some white tape for wrappings, and two white weapon pouches to replace his old ones.

Walking up to the counter he quickly paid for everything and sealed it away within the scroll that held his sword. Now all he needed was weapons to fill them.

Leaving the store to a happy shop keeper, Naruto made his way next door to a weapon shop he was familiar with. Normally this show would only sell him blunt kunai and shuriken at ridiculously high prices. Putting his new look to work, he grabbed a couple of sets of high quality kunai, shuriken. The thing he grabbed the most of though were senbon. He was hoping he could learn to wield them with the aim that Haku had, and if he studied anatomy like Haku had as well he hoped he'd be able to disable an opponent with ease. All he would need was practice.

After paying normal prices, which brightened up Naruto's mood considerably, he quickly left the shop and hopped back up to the roofs to Koko. Quickly getting his companion the two moved quickly to his apartment to drop all of his stuff off.

Luck was on Naruto's side. He was worried that the villagers might have destroyed his place, but nothing was amiss. There was only a little extra graffiti and a broken window, which he had become accustomed to.

Koko was beyond disgusted with what was in front of her. This was how Naruto lived and was treated in the village? So far he had shown himself to be one of the nicest and most compassionate people she had ever met. He was her companion, he showed her and treated her with respect she had not seen, and she knew she could trust him to protect her life just as she would his.

Naruto opened the door, and Koko was decently surprised to see it was an almost spotless apartment. Everything seemed to be tidy, and while the furniture looked rather worn it was also very well taken care of. Koko jumped up on the bed and started to take a nap as Naruto put everything away and went to take a shower.

The boy enjoyed his moments of relaxation in the shower. The warm water had a way of making all of the horrible things of the village just wash away. Naruto stood in the shower, contemplating how his life would change from then on until he came to the realization that it was a waste of time. He would make his life to be whatever he wanted. It was how he had lived and he wouldn't change that.

Hopping out of the shower, he dried himself off and changed his clothes before getting Koko and heading to out the door.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto was running along the rooftops, his image completely renewed. He looked like a true shinobi now. He had wrapped tape around his ankles to keep the flapping of his cargo pants to a minimum, as well as around his stomach to hide the seal in case it ever showed itself again. Over the tape he wore the fishnet undershirt and his blue vest. Attacked to each thigh was one of his knew weapon pouches, the left filled with senbon and the right his kunai and shuriken. In one of the pockets on his vest was the scroll containing just his sword now, as he had left everything back at his apartment. His hitai-ate was tied loosely around his neck, much like Koko's was. On his face was what remained of Haku's mask, his icy blue spiked bangs falling slightly forward under their own weight.

Naruto was currently headed towards the training grounds where he knew he would find who he was looking for. Pushing chakra into his nose, he breathed in the air and searched for the scent of oil, steel and strawberries. Nobody else had a scent even similar to his friends.

She was his only friend and he knew she would be able to help with his training. He quickly picked up her scent and made his way to where her team was training. The teen was rather disturbed by the two shinobi wearing green spandex outfits, but he would not be deterred. The boy who wore white seemed to notice his arrival first and turned to face him and Koko as they landed in a tree.

"Who goes there? Show yourself!" The boy with white eyes called out. Naruto was able to observe that he was a Hyūga as he had the same eyes as Hinata did. He wondered if they were closely related before he forwent the train of thought.

Naruto and Koko jumped out of the tree they had been hiding in and walked over to the group, Haku's mask having found its way into an inner pocket in the vest.

"Sorry to interrupt your training. I was looking for Tenten, I needed to talk to her about something." Naruto said with a sheepish expression on his face and a hand on the back of his head.

The Genin team's sensei, who Naruto instantly dubbed Super Mega Fuzzy Eyebrows to match the nin version of Super Fuzzy Eyebrows next to him, walked up to speak with Naruto.

"YOSH! YOU MAY SPEAK TO MY MOST YOUTHFUL STUDENT TENTEN! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH MUST BURN BRIGHTLY WITHIN YOU IF YOU KNOW ONE OF MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!" The spandex wearing man shouted out. Naruto's ears once again hurt from the loud noise but it was easy to ignore, Koko however was cowering behind his leg. Naruto quickly translated all of that into 'Hello, feel free to speak with Tenten. A friend of hers is a friend of mine.', or well that's what the end result of a the translation was.

Nodding, Naruto with Koko walked over and greeted Tenten, "Hey Ten-chan, miss me?" Naruto asked. Naruto quickly found himself at the edge of a kunai as the girl had a serious expression on her face.

"Who the hell are you?! Only one person can call me that and you aren't him!" Tenten asked, venom seeping into her lovely voice. Not far away her team tensed at this and ready to intervene, though the two spandex clad shinobi were hoping it was all a miss understanding.

Naruto just smiled, though Koko growled a little, "You can put down the kunai Ten-chan. It's me, Naruto. I kind of activated a bloodline on my last mission and it made me look a bit different is all." Naruto explained, hoping to defuse the situation before anything too extreme happened. He still remembered when she used to go off back at the orphanage before he was kicked out.

"Really? Prove it then." The weapons mistress demanded.

Naruto smirked a fox like grin. Moving fast he bypassed the kunai and got closed to her ear where he whispered, "Back in the orphanage I was the one who caught you kissing a picture of Tsunade-sama and praising your love for her."

Tenten immediately started imitating a tomato, which her team was very surprised at as they had never known she was capable of such a feat. Whatever this Naruto guy had said must have been beyond embarrassing to get this reaction from her.

"O-okay, so it really is you. What do you want Naruto-kun?" Tenten inquired, hoping to not have to talk about that incident. It wasn't her fault that she really really loved her idol.

"Well… uh… I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a sword?" The boy asked, gaining his sheepish look again.

Tenten looked at the boy in wonder, "Since when did you ever have an interest in Kenjutsu? Anyway, let me see this sword of yours so I can decide if I want to teach you or not. By the way, what's with the fox?" The bun-haired girl asked Naruto. She would have taught him anyway, but she since he never had an interest before she figured a blade must have caught his eye.

Grinning his fox grin again, Naruto pulled out the scroll from his vest and unseal Kubikiribōchō. Tenten's face remained unfazed for a moment as her brain processed what it was seeing. Slowly realization came to her and her eyes grew wider and wider by the minute.

"I…Is… Is that w-what I t-think it is?" Tenten asked frantically stammering, "W-w-where did you g-get th-that?!"

"This is the Kubikiribōchō. In the mission that I had activated my bloodline, we had faught Momochi Zabuza, the previous owner of the blade and one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. He died in the final fight and his dying wish was for me to use his sword. After that I met Koko-chan here, and she liked me enough to come back to Konoha with me and be my nin-kitsune companion." Naruto explained.

Tenten needed another moment to process everything before she exploded in shouts, "Oh Kami! I can't believe I'm standing next to the zanbatō of _THE_ Momochi Zabuza! I can't believe he even gave it to you!" Tenten said in her excitement before making a poor attempt to compose herself, as she was still bouncing with excitement, "That settles it! I am teaching. I can't let you embarrass swordsmen everywhere by not knowing how to handle this magnificent blade!"

'_Yep only Ten-chan could get this excited over a sword.'_ Naruto thought to himself. "Thanks so much Ten-chan. I'll work as hard as I can, I know you can be a real slave driver then you want to be." Naruto said, shivering when he remember how she 'taught' *cough**forced**cough* to learn how to throw kunai. He had never been so happy that he was a fast healer.

Tenten playfully bopped him on the head, although she had to jump slightly from his new height. The weapon mistress wouldn't admit it, but she had missed his antics. He always seemed to brighten her day, and she had missed him when the matron had kicked him out. They hadn't been able to talk much, what with the matron continuously trying to scare him away and her joining the academy, but they had always been close.

"Alright then Naruto-kun, I'll work with you every morning from 7:00 to 9:00, so long as I don't have a mission. Normally that's when Gai-sensei and Lee do their crazy morning routine that Neji and me skip." Tenten told her old friend. She was now happy to both be able to see her old friend again, and have a legitimate excuse to miss what Gai and Lee called 'extra training'.

Naruto sealed his sword away after he was able to wrestle it away from Tenten, and gave her a quick hug and a promise to spend a time together to catch up. Naruto and Koko left Team Gai to head to the library.

After his departure Tenten was quickly grilled by her team on who the boy was and how she knew him. She refused to give anything away that wasn't necessary, telling them that they met when they were younger and were old childhood friends. Neji seemed to not like this, but Lee and Gai just excepted it and moved on to more training.

Naruto had no problems at the library since the librarian didn't recognize him and was actually intimidated by his appearance. Walking through the many sections, he quickly found what he was looking for; Scrolls on chakra control exercises, seals, senbon and human anatomy. Quickly checking out all of the scrolls, Naruto dropped them off at his apartment, as Koko and he had one last stop before their day was over.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

The Inuzuka compound wasn't elegant or gaudy like the Hyūga or the Uchiha compounds, instead it was a rather humble group of moderately sized homes intermingled with large open areas for the dogs that the family loved so much to run and play in.

The smell of dog quickly assaulted Naruto and Koko's senses before they even reached the compound. The animal hospital was right next door to the compound, for convenience as they were the hospital's number one group of patients in need of constant care.

The blue-haired genin entered the hospital to see a teenage girl sitting at the front desk. She was wearing what looked like a normal medic-nin robe with a high collar. Her long hazel hair pulled back into a ponytail, with a few bangs falling over her face. Her red fang tattoos below her eyes marked her as an Inuzuka. He was glad that she was one, as she would understand more about Koko and their relationship better than anyone else would.

Inuzuka Hana was rather bored working her shift at the hospital. She loved being a veterinarian, but at the moment it was slow and dull. Kami seemed to answer her prayers, as a tall blue-haired shinobi walked in the door with what looked like a… multi-tailed fox?

"Umm, Hello?" The mysterious shinobi said, pulling her from her self-musings.

"Wha… Oh! Hello, my name is Inuzuka Hana, what can I help you with?" she introduced herself, mad at herself for already being simi-rude.

The boy seemed not to notice, "According to Hokage-ojiji, Koko-chan here needs to have a full medical exam before she can be registered as my companion." The shinobi told her. This caught her attention immediately.

"Companion?" Hana question.

"Hai, I met her on a mission recently, and she told me she wanted to be a nin-kitsune. She asked to be my companion and I didn't have anything against so I agreed, kind of like your family does with your nin-ken." The blue-haired boy said, hoping that it would be seen as a normal thing and not make a huge issue over it.

Kami wasn't willing to help him in it not being question, "She told you? You can understand her?" Hana asked, an inquisitive eyebrow rising.

"Yep, she can be pretty chatty when it's just me and her. She's also very opinionated and doesn't seem to get along with my teammates right now." The boy said, rubbing the back of his head and showing a smile that looked as if it belonged to the companion more than him.

Hana was beyond excited. She had never met anyone, outside of the Inuzuka's, who had a bond with an animal like that. She quickly raised herself out of her chair and made her way around the desk and down the hall motioning for them to follow her, "So she needs a checkup? Do you or her know when she last had her shots?" the Inuzuka heiress asked. She was probably being too energetic, but the surprises this guy was hitting her with, well she just couldn't help it.

A few yips later and the man answered for the fox, "It seems, as he last owner was always on the move in secluded areas, he never took her to get a checkup. Also she hates needles, something about being traumatized by when her last owner started learning to use senbon." The blue haired shinobi said with a smile. That got a small rise out of the fox, getting a yip and glare for the vixen.

Hana giggled a bit before responding, "Alright then, if you'd follow me, we'll get her all set up." The vet said, motioning for the two to continue to follow her. The two shinobi and vixen walked through a few more hallways before entering an examination room.

"I suppose we might as well start with the vaccinations." Hana said, looking the fox in the eyes, "I'm not going to lie, it will probably hurt a little."

The shinobi quickly put his hand in front of the vixen as he softly stroked her head, "If you need to Koko-chan, you can bit down on my hand. I know you hate needles, this will just be your way of getting back at me for making you get them." He said with a soft caring smile on his face.

Hana was stunned. She had never met anyone who was willing to treat their companion so well; And this guy was offering to let her bite his hand after only being together for such a short period of time?! The bond between them must have been extremely strong.

"That is very sweet of you… Oh! I just realized I never got your name! I'm so sorry. By the way, if you wouldn't mind, how long have you two known each other? You seem rather close…" Hana asked, not really sure why she kept messing up around the shinobi. She had been working in the hospital for over a year now. Things like this were normally routine.

"Oh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Koko-chan and I met two weeks ago. Since I'm not close with my teammates we bonded rather quickly." Naruto said, slowly staring off at the end. Hana, who was currently readying the injections, stopped to focus on what he said.

'_Two weeks? TWO WEEKS?! THEY FORMED A BOND IN TWO DAMN WEEKS?!_' Hana thought to herself in stunned silence.

Turning back to the boy, she remembered the name from somewhere but couldn't place it. The more she thought on it, the more it sounded familiar. It soon hit her. Naruto was the orphaned kid in her little brother Kiba's class at the academy. Her little brother had always talked about how the orphan prankster Naruto was the dead last of his class, despite Kiba's grades not exactly being something to brag about either. This Naruto and Kiba's Naruto seemed almost like polar opposites.

She then realized she was staring and whirled back around with a small blush on her face to finish to getting everything ready as she tried to cover for herself, "Sorry, I guess I was just surprised about how close you are when you haven't known each other long at all." Hana said, the blush slowly fading from her cheeks. Turing around with several syringes ready she moved over to the fox that was now lying down, "I'll get started right way to get it over with."

Several whimpers, and multiple bites later, the examination was finished.

"All done! Koko is in perfect health. I'll send the paperwork to the Hokage's office when I get off my shift." Hana said, quickly putting all the paperwork together and their copies into the hospital's records.

While she was focused on this Naruto and Koko were headed for the door, "Thanks so much for everything Hana-san! Come on Koko-chan, let's go catch you a rabbit before we head home."

Hana went to whirl around, in hopes of stopping him from leaving so quickly but he was already gone through the door.

"Damnit!" Hana muttered to herself as he turned back around to finish her paperwork, "I almost got to ask him…"

"Ask who what?"

Hana froze at the voice, as it was a voice she had hear since her birth. Turning around with a smile of getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar Hana spoke, "Kaa-san, Hey…."


	3. Chapter 3

It had been several days since Naruto had begun his training with Tenten. The day after he had asked for the training Naruto and Koko sat down and quickly designed their own training schedule making sure that they each trained in both their own skills as well as their teamwork.

The schedule turned out to be this: At 7:00 in the morning Naruto would meet with Tenten and train with her for two hours working on his Kenjutsu. He would then take a break, making sure to feed Koko and himself while he studied Fūinjutsu, and anatomy. Shortly after around 11:00 Naruto would leave with Koko to train his senbon throwing at Team 7's normal training ground. Koko would coach Naruto through the process, as she had watched Haku learn to use the delicate instruments. By 12:30 the rest of the team would show up, as Sakura and Sasuke had long learned not to even both showing up until then as Kakashi was always that late. When Kakashi would finally arrive they would complete the D-rank mission for the day before eating lunch and then Taijutsu and Teamwork practice. Koko had been worked into the normal Team 7 practice, well whenever it actually happened. Normally Sasuke would complain, Sakura would fawn, and Kakashi would just read his book. End the end they would all just go their separate ways, which left Naruto and Koko three hours to work on their teamwork. Following that was two hours of chakra control training and finally dinner. After dinner, Naruto would begin to either learn Suiton jutsu from the scrolls that he obtained from Zabuza or try to learn how to wield his new bloodline using Haku's notes.

Naruto had only been able to maintain such a schedule thanks to his massive reserves of both chakra and stamina. This training slowly began to help Koko as well, as it would held her with her endurance and stamina.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto was rather pleased with how his training was going. He was progressing extremely fast and was proving to have an excellent aptitude for Ninjutsu. After three months of training in Kenjutsu with Tenten he would say he was at least decent with the blade. He knew he was no master that the style he was learning, the Nadare style, which was based on using the massive weight of his blade to deal fast and hard to block strikes. His chakra control had improved to water walking levels that he was able to maintain for a full two hours, and he was working on adding the leaf technique with it. So far he was only up to two leaves.

With his senbon he was now able to pierce pressure points on just about any target to incapacitate them quickly. He was able to work on it so well by using his shadow clones as mobile targets, though he always felt like he took the hits afterwards.

Both the jinchūriki and his companion had made great strides in their Ninjutsu. Koko was able to fire up to four burst of fire for a three second duration. Naruto had taken to calling it her **Kitsunebi(Foxes Fire)**. Her speed had also increased, as she was now able to move behind a target, bite or burn them and then leave which would then force an opening for Naruto.

Naruto's Ninjutsu had been coming along decently well. He had learned **Suiton: Suijinheki(Water Release: Water Formation Wall)**, **Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu(Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu), **as well as **Hyoton: Sensatsu Suishou(Ice Release: Death by a Thousand Needles**. He was slowly working on **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu(Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu)**, but so far was only able to do it once before he became exhausted. He was also working on one handed seals as well, but it was slow progress with everything else he was training. Naruto's life had slowly become just eat, sleep and train.

The blue-haired genin jinchūriki was currently in his apartment working on an idea for a new jutsu involving his bloodline with Koko.

"Hmm… My short range potential is rather low except for my sword…" Naruto mused out loud, hoping an idea might come to either him or his companion who was currently lying next to him on his bed.

"Well… What if you made ice claws to increase you Taijutsu? If you can make the ice cold enough, it might be able to help freeze the blood of your target when you cut into them. However that would require you to learn different stances or even a different style of Taijutsu…" Koko said the first idea that had come to her mind.

Naruto froze for a moment. _'The last time I had claws….'_ Naruto thought to himself before he mentally shook his head. He couldn't dwell on the past anymore. Those claws were guided by the Kyūbi, this time would be different, and it didn't sound like that bad of an idea either.

Before Koko was able to worry as his sudden freeze he quickly spoke up, "Maybe I could make claws out of ice. I don't feel cold or receive the effects of low temperatures anymore so I wouldn't get frostbit, but my enemies would be hurt by the cold as well as the sharpness of the claws. Now all I have to do is create them with raw elemental manipulation before finding the proper hand seals to mold the chakra… I never pick anything easy do I?" Naruto asked looking at Koko who just snorted.

"You wouldn't be you if you did anything easy." Koko said as she laid her head back down on her paws.

They had been taking a break early as Tenten had to do a mission. He figured that they needed the break after the continuous three months of training. Naruto however was not about to just sit around and do nothing.

Pushing himself up, he set about doing a project that he had be putting off until his studies had gotten far enough. Summoning a Kage Bushin, Naruto set out gathering his book on seals as well as preparing an ink. It was a special ink that was a mix of chakra infused ink and his own blood.

After the ink was prepared properly he dismissed the clone, as he had no further use for it other than getting the book to the right page and setting up the pens he would use. Taking one of the pens, he very slowly started to make the seal matrix he needed on the inside of his left wrist. It was a storage seal, as he didn't want to keep lugging around Kubikiribōchō on his back. This would allow him to access it at a moment's notice, and his enemies wouldn't even know he had a sword with him at all.

After five minutes of double checking he had done it correctly, he used his chakra to activate the seal. The matrix glowed for a moment before it rushed together, forming a ring around the matrix itself, and finished with a light red tinge to it. Naruto picked up Kubikiribōchō and sealed it into the seal, then unsealed it and resealed it again.

Smiling at his work, he quickly cleaned up everything, he quickly grabbed his book on anatomy and laid down next to Koko who had fallen fast asleep.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Hana was frustrated. She had been busier than ever before, as it was time to check over the entire kennel so all of the ninken had up to date records.

The work wasn't what was bothering her, on the contrary she was happy to have all of the work. No it was the fact that she had met an amazing boy, who wasn't much younger than she was, and she had yet to meet him again! And it wasn't for lack of trying either. On her breaks she would try to get away but something would always come up.

It also wasn't helping that her mother had gotten nosey about it and all but interrogated her.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Flashback!

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

"_Thanks so much for everything Hana-san! Come on Koko-chan, let's go catch you a rabbit before we head home."_

_Hana went to whirl around, in hopes of stopping him from leaving so quickly but he was already gone through the door._

"_Damnit!" Hana muttered to herself as he turned back around to finish her paperwork, "I almost got to ask him…"_

"_Ask who what?"_

_Hana froze at the voice, as it was a voice she had hear since her birth. Turning around with a smile of getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar Hana spoke, "Kaa-san, Hey…."_

_Tsume stood there with a smirk adorning her beautifully feral face._

"_I asked you a question, pup. Ask who, what?"_

_Hana didn't exactly know how to answer. Her previous boyfriends had been nothing special, or all that intimate mainly because her mother had this habit of checking up on them, and after that she would personally speak with them which ended up scaring off everyone. She knew her mother was just being protective but she was seventeen, and she hadn't had any relationship that had gone past the first date!_

"_Oh nothing, Kaa-san." Hana said in an almost sheepish voice as she turned her back to the Inuzuka matriarch. She was hoping her mother would drop the subject, "So what are you doing her?" Hana asked in an attempt to divert the conversation._

_It didn't work._

"_Uzumaki, Naruto…" Tsume said just over Hana shoulders. The fact that her mother was that close to her surprised her for a second. Tsume had looked over her shoulder at the paperwork Hana had been fidgeting around with, "So who's he? Someone I need to have a chat with?" The matriarch said with a feral grin._

"_NO!" Hana blurted out before she composed herself, "I mean he just came in with a kitsune that's all. Standard checkup so she could be placed as his companion." Hana said, having reverted to her professional tone._

_That caught the older Inuzuka by surprise. No one outside of the Inuzuka's carried companions into battle. Sure anyone could, but no one ever chose to. What also surprised her was the animal that was his companion… A fox. Not exactly a heavy hitting companion, as they weren't built like the ninken of the Inuzuka's._

"_Oh? He's got a companion? Tell me about…" Tsume looked again at the paperwork, "the kitsune, Koko."_

_Hana really wasn't happy right now, not only had the boy gotten away, but now her mother was going to go on her hunt to scare him off after she finally found a guy who seemed to like animals and actually seemed to care about his companion. She was absolutely certain that her triplets would easily agree to him, as she wouldn't be able to be with anyone without their consent as well._

"_Koko is a rare kitsune, her breed can grow multiple tails as a result of their chakra reserves. The tails are a directs show of their strength, just like our ninken's strength is shown in their size. She's young, only what I would guess to be a year or two. She'll probably get as big as one of my huskies depending on how many tails she's able to grow. She currently has two tails. The surprising thing is the bond that she and her companion share. It is very strong, and it's only been a short time since they've been together." Hana said, her voice petering out at the end as she was still stunned by the strength of the bond that she had seen._

_Tsume was surprised by this, though she did her best not to show it. She had the name of the boy and that was enough for her, though if what her daughter was telling her she might just make an exception for him and let him have a try for her hand._

"_So, do you like him?" Tsume pressed. Hana groaned, as she knew this questioning was not going to end._

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Flashback End!

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Her mother had not given up on trying to figure out what she felt for Naruto. It wasn't easy to answer her, as she herself had no clue what felt for the blue-haired shinobi. It didn't help that her mother would question her any chance she got, whether it be at home in front of her little brother, or at work in front of her fellow medics. Her mother sure could be a nag when she wanted to.

She had hoped to see him when she dropped off the paperwork, but he had already left before she had gotten there. She was damned and determined to figure this boy out.

Heaving a sigh, as she walked down the halls of the animal hospital, she was almost done with her work day. She just had to drop off the last of the records at the front desk and then she was done; And she wasn't going to be headed home just yet. She had brought her ninken to work today, not only to get them checked out, but also so she could hunt the boy down.

At times she wondered if she was taking her curiosity to an obsessive level, but then again she didn't really care.

As no one was at the front desk, she placed the files in the 'To be Processed' bin, then hung up her coat. Giving a quick whistle, she walked out the door followed by three identical huskies. She wasn't like most Inuzuka's, not only did she go and learn medical Ninjutsu, but she was also bound to three dogs instead of just one. She had only been six years old when they were born, and they just took to her as she did to them. Since then they had been inseparable, fighting, playing and laughing together, they had been through thick and thin together.

They could tell that Hana was on a mission, they weren't positive what kind of mission, but they could tell that she was serious.

As she walked out onto the street, she turned to her ninken and held out a few hairs, "Alright boys, I want you to help me track down this smell okay?" Hana said as the dogs sniffed at the scent. Within minutes they caught the scent and took off with the feral kunoichi hot on their heels.

The trio of dogs led Hana across the village towards the training grounds. As she entered training ground seven, she was forced to stop for a moment as the area was filled with a mist. From the scent in the air, she knew it was manmade. Calling upon her previous experiences with manmade mists, she quickly concluded that it was the **Kirigakure no Jutsu(Hidden Mist Jutsu)** that forces from Kirigakure would use often.

Hana, not wanting to be forced to rely on her nose only, held her ninken back in the trees as they waited for whenever it would clear.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto was currently in the mists, he was practicing using it, hoping that make it combat ready. He had his hitai-ate over his eyes, so he would have to focus entirely on his ears. He had been doing this training for close to an hour.

Hearing the ever so slight pitter-patter of pawed feet, Naruto quickly turned and caught Koko as she jumped into the air.

That was how he was training, Koko would hide in the mists and try to tackle him and he'd try to stop her by catching her. This improved both Koko and Naruto's reaction timing to attacks, as well as speed for Koko and hearing for Naruto.

"Damn, I almost had you!" Koko whined out. Naruto, lifting the hitai-ate onto his forehead, chuckled as he released his jutsu and began to stroke her behind her floppy ears gaining a coo from Koko.

"It just means I'm getting better is all," Naruto said before his ears picked up four different heart beats. He hadn't heard them before as his attention was so focused on hearing everything in the clearing, not so much in the trees lining the clearing, "Show yourself!" Naruto called out, as Koko crawled up onto his neck barring her fangs in the direction Naruto was facing.

"Well that was impressive, to find me so quickly…" a feminine voice called out. Out of the shadows of the trees walked Hana, clad in her chūnin gear which consisted of tight forest brown capris, a sleeveless mesh shirt under her form fitting chūnin vest. Behind her were three huskies who, while trying to give the illusion of laziness, Naruto could see were on high alert.

Naruto quickly recognizing who it was gave a smile, "Ah Hana-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit?" Naruto asked.

Hana almost giggled, Naruto had sounded older than she knew him to be. She knew he was only thirteen years old from her younger brother, yet he gave off an air of confidence and experience that Hana couldn't help but fall for. Giving the shinobi in front of her a once over, she couldn't help but notice the changes about him.

His arms seemed more defined, as was his torso. Since he wasn't wearing his vest at the moment, she could almost make out the rippling muscle underneath the skin tight shirt he wore. His eyes seemed to hold an almost unbreakable resolve in them, however there was something lying underneath that Hana wasn't quiet able to make out. It was as if he was keeping a part of himself hidden from the world and he was doing a damn good job of it.

"I just wanted to talk with you. I've never met anyone who's bonded with an animal outside of my clan, so you kind of intrigue me." Hana said in an almost coy voice.

The tone she used almost set Naruto on edge, it was as if she was baiting him, hoping he'd give something up. He was also on edge, because no one EVER wanted to know about him, hell most people just wished he would roll over dead.

"So what would you like to know?" Naruto asked, paying attention to everything around him and everything she said. Meanwhile, Koko seeing that there was no danger decided to curl up around Naruto's neck, laying herself out on his shoulders and falling asleep.

"Why don't I buy you a cup of tea and we can talk? How does that sound?" Hana asked. She could tell by his body language that he was defensive right now, and she knew she wouldn't be able to get any answers out of him that way.

Naruto thought on it for only a short moment before nodding and gesturing for her to lead the way. Hana led the boy in silence to a new café that had just opened up. They had walked through the streets in silence, neither one willing to start the conversation. As they arrived, they took a seat outside so they wouldn't have to send their animal companions away.

After a quick order of tea and a few treats for their furry friends, Hana went back to observing Naruto. She noticed that he looked uncomfortable for some reason. With a quick glance around, she didn't find any reason for it so she chalked it up to being with her. _'He must not have a lot of experience with women…'_ Hana thought to herself.

"You don't have to look so uncomfortable, Naruto-san. I'm not going to bite… much." Hana said with a smirk.

Naruto gave a small chuckle, but didn't seem to relax. It wasn't so much the fact that he was uncomfortable sitting here drinking tea with a beautiful woman. No that was a different matter all on its own. No he was uncomfortable right now due to the fact that he wasn't used to sitting out in public. The village didn't seem to catch onto his new looks yet, and he was nervous that they would any second and throw him out. He didn't want that happening, especially not in front of someone who had shown him kindness.

"Sorry, just not used to this is all." Naruto said with a small sheepish smile, "So what is it you wanted?" Naruto asked.

Hana's smirk slowly slipped from her face as a thoughtful expression took over, "I just wanted to get to know you. I've never met anyone who can form a bond as strong or as quick as you have with Koko there." Hana said in a light tone, as if it was nothing special really.

Naruto just leaned forward, feeling Koko shift slightly in her position, "Well what would you like to know?"

"Oh where to begin?" Hana asked rhetorically. For the next hour both teens sat there, sipping tea and talking with one another. From a distance they looked like two friends who had gotten together after a long time apart.

Naruto was careful not to divulge too much into his personal life, just relating experiences he's had with his team. He was able to make Hana laugh at a few of his stories of him verses the demon cat of Konoha, Tora. Hana would talk about her work or her clan, a smile not far from her face. The only time they stopped talking was to order another round of tea.

At the end of the hour, Hana knew she had to get home otherwise her mother would come looking for her and of course that would lead her to meeting Naruto. She had slowly started to like the guy, and she was not about to subject him to her mother's treatment. Naruto, having spent more time than he had anticipated, needed to get back to training to stay on schedule. Little did they know, on a rooftop not far away, they were being watched from the shadows.

As they got up and paid their check, both nodded and agreed to meet again whenever they had free time. Hana slowly walked to her clan's compound with her triplets in tow. She was musing over the mystery that was Naruto. She knew he hadn't shared much, but what he had shared she found that she liked.

As she walked through the gates she immediately felt a presence behind her.

"Well don't you look happy."

Hana turned around to be greeted with the sight of her smirking mother. She hadn't realized that she had been smiling the entire time, or that she was practically radiating happiness. "What do you mean, Kaa-san?" Hana asked trying to wipe the smile off her face, but to no avail.

Seeing her daughter attempt to stop smiling caused Tsume to roar with laughter on the inside. She had been observing her for the past hour. When she had taken her ninken to work with her, Tsume knew her daughter was planning something and she figured it was going to be to track down the boy. While Tsume knew she had been pestering Hana about her relationship with the blue-haired shinobi, she was in all actuality happy. She knew Naruto hadn't had the easiest of lives, and to her own fault of being caught up in council politics and clan affairs she hadn't been able to help the child at all.

"Oh," Tsume began as she slowly circled her daughter, "Just that you seem rather happy after your little date…"

Hana's eyes shot open, as she felt like she was pray being hunted. Not only had her mother found out that she had met with Naruto, but that they had spent time together. Quickly covering up her shock with steeled determination she moved to complete denial, "I don't know what you're talking about, Kaa-san. Now if you'll excuse me, I had a long day at work and I think I need a shower."

Tsume's smirk grew even greater at her daughters response. When her daughter walked past her towards the house she just had to throw the icing on the cake, "Oh, did you want this photo? I think you and him looked so adorable…" Tsume said holding up a small photo of Naruto and Hana laughing together.

Hana moved so fast, she was nothing but a blur as she grabbed the photo out of her mother's hands and ran into the house. The entire time this was happening, her ninken had just sat there listening to the conversation. In no time flat Hana had made it into her room, closing and locking the door. Her breath came in a soft pant, as she didn't realize how fast she had forced her body to move.

After catching her breath, she put the photo on her dresser face down as she pulled out a pair of loose fitting shorts and a t-shirt to lounge around in. _'Ugh, she's so damn nosey!'_ Hana thought to herself, as she made her way into her adjoining bathroom and started to shower.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto found himself back in the same clearing again, only this time without the mist. He was currently working on making his, what he dubbed, **Kōri no Tsume (Claws of Ice)**. So far he had been able to extend the claws over his finger nails. They weren't really sharp at all, but when he had tested them they made frozen marks on the tree. The thing that really irked him was he was only able to make seven marks before they shattered.

He was currently hoping to increase but as he made his sixth strike, "Alright, that was six… Here's seven!" Naruto exclaimed as he moved to slash at the tree. As the claws made contact, he could feel them crack. As the hit followed through, the cracking continued until the claws were no more.

"Damnit!" Naruto exclaimed, his frustration getting the better of him, "Not only does it take me like forever to make them, but their so damn fragile!"

Koko sighed from her place off to the side; she knew Naruto was getting worked up. It was inevitable really, but to Koko he was making excellent progress. It had been two days since he started working on this jutsu, so she wasn't all that worried, "Naruto, you need to calm down. You've only just started, now don't we need to go meet up with duck-butt and foghorn?" Koko asked in a cheerful voice.

Since getting back from Nami no Kuni, she had really taken a dislike to Naruto's teammates. Mainly for their continuous insults towards him, and since Naruto never defended himself against them they kept coming all the time.

"Koko," Naruto said in a complaining tone. He wasn't really in the mood to listen to insults from either side, as Koko had slowly been getting more and more vocal with them. Koko just walked over to him and rubbed her side against his leg, and all the tension between them seemed to stop, "Alright, lets go." Naruto said in voice that sounded tired.

Koko, using her claws, climbed up his right leg and perched herself on his shoulder. Naruto was used to this by now, and didn't even pause as me made his way towards his team's meeting place. As he walked he couldn't help but think back over all of the training he had undergone to get to this point. How he spent many hours with his old friend Tenten learning how to use his blade properly, or all of the Ninjutsu he taught himself. He could only think to what would happen had he not jumped with Haku. He'd probably still be running around, screaming how much he wanted to be Hokage, and still wearing those orange jumpsuits.

He still remembered when his team saw his new outfit. Sasuke was stunned into silence… that or he was just shocked and began to brood like always. Sakura screamed about how Naruto was trying to copy Sasuke's coolness and how he'll never be anything like him. Kakashi just took one look at Naruto and then patted him on the head telling him 'good job'. Naruto tried to deck him for that but even with his back turned Kakashi was able to dodge him.

As Naruto neared the meeting place, he pulled out a book he was carrying with him so he could study. In his mind he was going over the style of fighting him and Koko had been speaking about as she took a nap on his shoulder. The style consisted of quick and fast paced movements, he would use his claws, if he ever got them combat ready, and hit areas on the body to slow movement before he could fully disable them. When combined with Koko's speed and flexibility, they made a very formidable pair.

As everyone arrived, they all set about waiting like usual for their sensei to show up. However unlike usual, Kakashi showed up thirty minutes early.

"Yo." The one-eyed jōnin said with a mock salute.

The team was startled, and if it hadn't been Koko telling Naruto that it was really him, he would have thought he was caught in a genjutsu like Sakura and Sasuke thought, though only Sakura tried to dispel the possible illusion.

Seeing his students not believe he could arrive on time made him sweat drop a bit, "Anyway, sorry I'm a little late, but I was getting your applications to the Chūnin Exams. Here you go," Kakashi said as he handed each of his students a single form, "If you wish to participate go to Room 301 in the Academy this Friday at 0800. No one is going to force you to participate, but I believe all of you can handle this. I'll see you at the exams!" the lazy jōnin sensei told his students, as he left them eager to continue reading his little orange smut.

Left there standing without the adult, the teens all felt differently about the exam. Naruto and Sasuke were both excited to get to test their skills against other genin, though only Sasuke say this as a way to increase his power. Sakura felt rather unsure of herself, but would attend anyway just to impress her Sasuke-kun. Naruto and Koko quickly pocketed the application and left to go train on their own some more, they had only three days tell the exam and Naruto was going to use every minute he could. Sasuke left to go train as well at the Uchiha compound, while Sakura continued to pester the boy for a date.

While heading to his favorite training ground, Naruto heard a kid struggling. Quickly turning the corner he say said kid struggling in the grip of a boy wearing what appeared to be a cat suit with kabuki makeup on, a Suna hitai-ate, and a strange object wrapped in bandages on his back. IN a tree near him was a kunoichi also from Suna if the hitai-ate was anything to go by, yelling at the other Suna shinobi to put the boy down. Upon further inspection Naruto noticed the boy was Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson. Naruto had a small soft spot as the kids dream was also his own, and as such said that they were rivals for the title.

Not wanting the boy to get hurt Naruto decided to intervene, "Hey Suna-nin! You might want to put the Hokage's grandson down before you inadvertently cause a war. All three of you might as well come out as well, no reason trying to hide in the tree." Naruto said, his eyes on the tree. The two Suna nin looked up in the trees and their eyes widened with fear.

"G-g-gaara!" Both of them stammered out.

The third Suna-nin now being called Gaara, quickly used a **Suna Shunshin(Sand Body Flicker)** and placed himself between Naruto and the other shinobi.

"Kankuro, you're an embarrassment to Suna. Put the boy down before I kill you." Gaara said, his voice menacing with the promise that he would do as he said.

Kankuro quickly released his grip on the boy who quickly dropped to the ground and darted behind Naruto.

"I apologize for anything my brother did." Gaara said in a monotone voice. Naruto took the time to better access the situation. The girl behind the small redhead had a fan on her back and wore a light lavender dress that went down about mid-thigh. On her left leg she had mesh armor and he could see the armor at the top where it held onto her shoulders as well. Around her waist was what appeared to be a red belt, and she had four pigtails tied back. The boy had a mess of red hair, and was wearing a black body suit with mesh armor peeking out at the sleeves. He had a brown belt tied around his torso that held what looked to be a gourd of sand as well as a piece of white cloth over the belt. On his forehead the kanji for 'love' was in a red dye.

"No harm, no foul." Naruto said, as he collected Konohamaru and was about to leave before he was addressed again.

"Konoha-nin, what is your name?"

Naruto turned and saw that it was the same redhead that had addressed him before, "Uzumaki Naruto. And what are your names?" Naruto asked curiously, the boy's scent was off putting as he smelled of sand and blood.

"I'm Subaku no Gaara." Gaara replied in his monotone voice.

The girl seemed to perk up at being acknowledged, "I'm Temari!" The girl said with a smile. The boy next to her wearing the cat suit didn't speak at all and just held his tongue.

"I'm assuming your all here for the exams correct?" Naruto asked getting a nod from the group, "Well please try to cause any more potentially disastrous incidents anymore." With another nod of understanding, the trio of Suna-nin left, and Naruto went off to find Konohamaru's sensei so he would be watched. From the vibe they were giving off Naruto wanted to be prepared for them if he had to face them in the upcoming exams.


	4. Chapter 4

Finally the day of the exams had arrived. Naruto was standing outside the Academy with Koko on her usual place, his shoulders. As 7:30 rolled around Sasuke and Sakura showed up, Sasuke looking geared up for a fight though Sakura looked rather nervous.

Team 7 entered the Academy and quickly took to the stairs. As they reached the second floor they came upon the sight of a large group of genin outside of a room labeled 301, being bullied by two older genin that stood in front of the door. Naruto thought it was odd seeing as they had been on the second floor.

With a quick scan of the group Naruto spotted a friendly face, and being him he had to go say hi. "Oi, Ten-chan! Ready for the exams?" asked the energetic ice wielder, waving at his friend and part-time sensei.

Tenten turned to see Naruto waving as she quickly got up from helping her teammate off the ground. "Oh hey Naruto-kun, hey Koko-chan. I'm surprised to see you here, Gai-sensei made us wait a year efore entering the exams. Good luck!" Tenten said giving the boy a smile. He was a really good student, and she was hoping to see him use his sword in a real battle.

Naruto quickly gave her another smile before moving in a little closer so he could whisper in her ear, "You too Ten-chan. See you on the third floor, nice idea to hide your abilities by the way." The blue-haired boy whispered to her. He didn't want others to know so there wouldn't be as much competition.

As Naruto began moving back to his team to lead them upstairs, he forgot one key aspect about his team. That being that Sasuke had very little control over his arrogance.

"Show us Room 301! This is obviously a genjutsu." The Uchiha demanded with a smirk on his face. He wanted everyone to see that the Uchiha clan was above such a stupid genjutsu.

Naruto wasn't able to stop the forehead slap he gave himself at his teammate's stupidity. The genjutsu dropped and the two bullies moved to quickly attack Sasuke. They made it half way before being stop by Rock Lee, who in a display of Taijutsu prowess kicked both away, forcing them to fly backwards from the strength of the kick. Lee turned to who he saved, only for his eyes to fall on Sakura and hearts filled his eyes.

"HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL YOUTHFUL FLOWER! MY NAME IS ROCK LEE AND I WILL PROTECT YOU WITH MY LIFE!" Lee proclaimed in a cheer-filled yell, hoping that the girl would love him back. I mean he was willing to protect her from harm, what girl wouldn't fall for him right?

"Ewww, your weird! I love Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted back at the bowl cut haired boy, as she tried to hug her Sasuke-kun to show how in love they were only for him to quickly dodge said hug.

Lee however was not deterred by this. He quickly turned his attention to the Uchiha with a fire blazing in his eyes, "YOSH! SASUKE YOU ARE A GENIUS AND I WISH TO FIGHT AGAINST YOU TO SSHOW WHAT MY FLAMES OF YOUTH CAN DO!" the mini-Gai yelled out.

Tenten and Naruto stood off to the side, banging their heads against the wall from their teammate's display of stupidity. Lee and Gai were okay once you got used to them, but they were never were friendly with your ears and always making foolish challenges. Sasuke with a smirk excepted the fight and the pair walked upstairs for a quick match.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

"I told you not to fight him." Naruto droned out as he half dragged a beat up looking Sasuke down the hallway to room 301.

"Shut it dobe!" Sasuke growled out, as he ripped his arm off of Naruto's shoulder, "So I miss calculated on a few things, big deal. I had him where I wanted."

Naruto just chuckled as he felt Koko retake her place on his shoulders, "Not from where I was standing," Naruto said offhandedly as they reached the door only to see Kakashi leaning next to it.

"Yo." The one-eyed jōnin said with a two fingered salute, "Glad you all could make it. Well you all can proceed on in." Kakashi said looking bored as he pushed himself off the wall.

"Wait, you mean we couldn't before?" Sakura asked, as she stopped fussing over Sasuke for a second.

"Why yes, you couldn't. If even one of you had not made it, none of you could have proceeded, since this is a team exam. But you all are here so it's a moot point now. Good luck." Kakashi said as he turned down the hall and walked away with a back handed wave.

When he was out of sight Naruto turned to his two teammates only to see Sakura trying to maul Sasuke in an attempt to 'help' him. Giving a small pray to Kami that he could survive this exam and leave this team, he opened the door only to be tackled right away.

"Oh! Sasuke-kun I've missed you, have you missed me?"

Naruto was currently face first into Ino Yamanaka's chest, the co-president of the Sasuke fan club, as she kept a tight grip on his head despite his struggles to get released.

"INO LET GO!" Naruto roared out as he wasn't able to breath. Hearing the voice she looked down to see icy blue hair, then looking to her right saw Sasuke dealing with Sakura.

"Ah! What the hell?!" Ino exclaimed as she pushed the stranger away. Naruto taking a deep breath looked around and saw Koko rolling on the floor laughing.

"Oh shut it Koko!" Naruto yelled at the giggling fox. Still chuckling the fox climbed his leg for the third time and laid on his shoulders.

"Naruto?"

Said shinobi turned to see the rest of the Rookie 9 looking at him with wonder and curiosity. It then struck him that they didn't know about his new appearance, though they could tell it was him by his voice. _'What the hell happened to him?'_ Was the collective thought of the eight of the nine rookies. The ninth rookie thought something along the lines of _'OH MY GOD NARUTO-KUN! HE LOOKS AMAZING!'_, bet you can't guess who that was.

Naruto not being able to come up with a good response of his own decided to borrow one, "Yo." Naruto said with a two fingered salute. This stopped Sasuke and Sakura in their tracks and he gained deadpanned expressions from them.

Naruto moved into the room without saying another word,(**A/N: is 'Yo' even considered a word?**) and took to leaning against the wall. None of them, except his teammates, could believe that the tall intimidating shinobi in front of them could be the same orange-jumpsuit wearing idiot they went to the Academy with. The black fox with a Konoha hitai-ate around her neck also confused them. Hinata, not being able to take it anymore, fainted at the sight of Naruto with a giant blush and grin on her face. Before they could say anything to him a silver-haired genin wearing glasses interrupted them.

"You might want to settle down a bit, Rookies. The other guys here aren't too happy with you and your only drawing more attention." The older genin said while pushing up his glasses.

The Rookie 9 looked around to see that every eye was on them. Kiba was the first to speak his mind to the new guy.

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba barked out, not really translating the older genin's words quickly enough.

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto. This will be my seventh time to take the exams. They are rather difficult. How about I help you rookies out?" The mysterious genin said, as he knelt down and reached into his weapons pouch pulling out a deck of cards, "These here are my nin-info cards. By pushing chakra into them I can show you info on any shinobi in the exams. This there anyone you'd like to see?" The genin asked.

Off to the side, Koko had whispered a warning to Naruto. She could smell snakes and blood on the guy, and she knew it wouldn't mean anything good.

Back with the group, Sasuke spoke up first, shocking most of the group who were not used to so many words form the brooding shinobi.

"I want to see the info on Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto." The Uchiha asked. Most were curious to what the card would say about Naruto. What most didn't know was that just about every other genin in there had turned their attention to the conversation.

"Oh you know their names? That makes this too easy. Alright I'll start with Rock Lee." The glasses wearing genin said as he pulled a card out. Putting a single finger to it as well as holding a one handed seal the seemingly blank card filled with information. Picking the card up Kabuto cleared his throat, "Rock Lee: Genin. He's completed 54 D-rank missions, and 7 C-rank missions with his teammates, Neji Hyūga and Tenten Higarashi. Skills consist of high marks in Taijutsu with no skills known about his Ninjutsu or Genjutsu skills. I don't think he's able to use them, now onto Uzumaki Naruto…"

Pulling out another card and doing the same with it he picked it up and read it as well, "Uzumaki Naruto: Genin. 25 D-rank missions, 2 C-rank missions and 2 A-rank mission. An A-rank as a genin? Impressive. He's teamed up with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. It says he activated a bloodline while on a mission though the abilities of it are unknown. His skills in Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu are also unknown. The only thing that is really known is he has a registered nin-kitsune named Koko, a rare multi-tailed fox that are almost on the verge of extinction. They are said to be a fox that are exposed and born with a lot of chakra, hence the multiple tails." Kabuto said. When he finished, the Rookie 9 were looking at Naruto who had moved away from his wall.

Before any of the rookies could ask questions, as Shino was able to revive Hinata in time to hear Naruto's info, the jinchūriki quickly spoke up. "Subaku no Gaara." Naruto stated. He wanted to see what was up with him, as Naruto had gotten a very weird vibe from him. Sasuke perked up, he knew Naruto wouldn't ask about an opponent unless he was a challenge. He knew Naruto just preferred to fight his battles on his own.

After selecting the card and calling up the info Kabuto cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Alright Subaku no Gaara… I don't have a lot of info on him since he's from another village but: Subaku no Gaara: Genin. 12 C-rank missions 8 B-rank missions and 2 A-rank missions. No info on his skills but there's a note that says he's come back from every mission unharmed." Read Kabuto. He didn't really give Naruto any of the information that he wanted, but it did make him eager to find out. The information this genin had on him also indicated that he was a spy, since he never told anyone about the A-ranked mission from Mizuki. Only the Hokage, Iruka, and himself knew about it. He had to find a way to get a note to the proctors.

"I see. Thank you. I always enjoy a good challenge," The blue-haired genin said, sending a fox grin towards the bloodthirsty looking red-head.

The group was now staring at Naruto. There was no way this was the Naruto that they all knew. They were now very curious about what this new Naruto could do. They may actually have to be careful if they encounter him in the exam. Especially if he now had a bloodline that no one knew about.

After recovering from their shock Kabuto went to explain about how the countries would only send the best of the best genin to these exams, as it was a way to get future missions.

"Though the village you probably don't have to watch out for is Otogakure. They just sprang up, almost overnight so they probably sent whoever they had on hand to the exams to get at least some recognition for missions." Kabuto said off handedly. This sparked a small confrontation, as the Oto genin didn't take to that too well.

After their surprise attack on Kabuto that left him vomiting on the floor with his glasses crack, a tall man in a black trench coat busted into the room, flaring his own killing intent at every genin to stop any further action.

"Alright you maggots! Let us get one thing perfectly clear, there will be no attacking during this exam unless you want to be disqualified. GOT IT?! You will only engage in combat if expressly told to do so." The jōnin said as he glanced around the room. "Good, now let the first exam begin, welcome to hell gaki's!"

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

The Jōnin Lounge

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

The jōnin lounge was a place for those of jōnin rank to gather and relax. It was a place they could get away from the harsh life of a shinobi. Currently the jōnin-sensei of the rookie 9 and Gai were sitting there talking about the chances of their teams making chūnin.

Kakashi was, like usual, lazily reading his book while listening to the others talk about their teams. He felt like he should speak up since he knew who the first examiner was. "This first exam will be interesting. They're being tested by Morino Ibiki…" Kakashi said.

Kurenai, being a rather fresh jōnin, and hadn't yet met everyone yet so she didn't know who that was. "Morino Ibiki? Who's that?" the red-eyed jōnin asked.

Sarutobi Asuma, who had quite the crush on the beautiful jōnin and wanted to impress her, took this opportunity to do so, "Morino Ibiki, the head of ANBU's Torture and Interrogation Unit. He has made quite a reputation for himself as being a master of psychological tactics." Asuma said taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Psychological tactics?" Kurenai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He specializes in the mind," Asuma said going to explain, "Unlike many of the torturers, he doesn't have to touch you to make you speak. He chooses to make you WANT to speak by torturing your mind."

Kurenai realizing how much trouble the genin were worried a bit, "Do you think any of our genin will be able to pass his test?" Kurenai asked. She, probably like the others, were pressured a bit by the council to put her team in the exam since she had clan heirs on her team. Well it consisted of clan heirs but still.

"YOSH! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH IN MY TEAM BURN BRIGHTLY! I AM SURE THEY WILL BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS!" Gai shouted with his usual gusto.

Kakashi looked up from his book with a bored expression, "Huh? You say something?"

"DAMN YOU AND YOUR TOO HIP FOR SCHOOL ATTITUDE MY ETERNAL RIVAL! IF MY STUDENTS DO NOT PASS THIS PART OF THE EXAM I WILL RUN 500 LAPS AROUND KONOHA! AND IF I CAN NOT DO THAT I WILL RUN UP AND DOWN THE HOKAGE MONUMENT ON MY HANDS 100 TIMES!" Gai told the room, not that anyone was really paying much attention. Gai was a prime example of how people changed after experiencing the harsh life of a shinobi for so long, though Kakashi swore he was always like that. Konoha was just known for its eccentric shinobi above most other things.

After that excitement, Asuma chose to continue the conversation, "Well anyway… Shikamaru is a genius, so I'm sure he will figure something out and then help Chōji. As for Ino… Well she has her clan's jutsu to help her out. How about you Kakashi?"

Kakashi closed his single visible eye for a moment as he put his thoughts together. After a moment he lowered his book to look at them, "Honestly, I'm not sure. Sakura and Sasuke I believe will be fine. They were Kunoichi and Rookie of the year. As for Naruto… I honestly have no idea anymore." Kakashi said, his tone changing more to a confused tone from his usual bored tone. This the jōnin around him caught quickly.

"What do you mean you have no idea? Wasn't Naruto pretty much a complete failure at the Academy?" Kurenai asked before widening her eyes at what she just said. Speaking quickly to cover herself, "No offense, I mean his grades weren't the best…"

Kakashi motioned that he took no offense, "No, he wasn't. As you all know he failed three times to pass the genin test; But after our mission in wave Naruto… changed. Completely." Kakashi said, now looking down at the table they were at, "While waiting for me to show up at team meetings I would catch him studying. According to the Hokage, all Naruto has done for the past five months is eat twice a day, then immerse himself in his training and studying. I couldn't find where he was training as it kept switching all the time, so I no longer actually know what his capabilities are. I think we will find his performance in this exam to be a very interesting show." The lazy jōnin told his comrades.

The room went silent as they contemplated what Kakashi had told them. They all agreed that they would have to keep an eye on Naruto to see what all he was able to do.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Back in the exam room, the test was just finishing up.

Naruto was thoroughly happy with his performance. Okay so he couldn't take all the credit, since it was actually Koko who figured out the test from her perch on his shoulders. From where she laid, she had a good view to be able to get what information he needed. He was able to answer the one question on anatomy that was there, since he had been studying human anatomy for the better part of five months continuously.

As the team was winding down, Naruto subtly looked around and saw quite a few empty seats. Naruto, while still nervous for the 10th question, was ready for whatever it could be.

Looking at the clock Ibiki's smirk grew, "Okay everyone, pencils down! It is time now for the final question of the test. This question has a few special set of rules. First of all, you will have a choice of whether or not to take this final question." This brought a murmur from all of the genin, only to make Ibiki's grin even bigger, "However… If you choose to not take it you are done. You will fail, and as such so will your team. Second is if you do take the question and answer incorrectly, you will forever remain a genin forever."

At this, the girl Naruto remembered as Temari spoke out, "You can't do that! Other people have taken this test multiple times!"

This brought out multiple other genin who spoke up in agreement. Ibiki just started to laugh a deep and throaty laugh.

"Well," Ibiki said as he finished laughing, "They didn't have me running the exam. Tough luck for all of you." Ibiki answered. Everyone was quiet before a few teams raised their hands to quit. Naruto kept still, his face a calm and cool mask. He turned his head just in time to notice his own teammate was starting to raise her hand to give up. He himself didn't think Sakura was ready for this, but he couldn't let her make the whole team fail. The jinchūriki knew he had to intervene, and quickly. Naruto raised his hand only to slam it down onto the desk, making a slight dent. Koko couldn't only shake her head at her companion's energy.

"That's crap and you know it!" Naruto yelled out, gaining everyone attention with his outburst, "I'll take the question even if I have to remain a genin forever! Anyone who's read the shinobi laws knows that it's the KAGE'S choice to promote or demote their shinobi, and NO one else can decide that!"

Ibiki looked at the blue-haired genin with a straight face, though inwardly he was smiling. Taking a look around the room showed that not only had he saved his own teammate with his outburst, as he could see she was about to give in, but he also managed to raise the confidence of every genin in the room.

Ibiki was pretty impressed with the Uzumaki brat. He was one of the few brats who he couldn't tell whether or not he had cheated or if he actually knew the answers. He had seen his head down the whole time, and if the fox was feeding him answers then he made no show of ever getting them. Hell at times he thought the fox was actually napping! But now the brat had brought up the spirits of an entire room, which was a quality any leader would need.

Seeing that he probably couldn't intimidate anyone else into quitting, he gave one last final call, "Anyone else? Anyone wish to quit while you still can?" Getting no response and only looks of determination from both the genin as well as the chūnin watchers he turned and gave a genuine smile, "Alright then. All of you in this room… PASS!"

Ibiki waited a few moments to let it sink in before the first outbursts came.

"What?! What do you mean we 'pass'?! What about the tenth question?" Temari questioned.

Ibiki gave a throaty chuckle, "Simple. You. Pass. You can say the tenth question of the exam was actually the decision on whether or not to take the question at all. The first part of the exam, as I'm sure many of you discovered, was to test your ability to gain information. This is a key skill you will need as a shinobi. Those that we discovered cheating, we failed. If you were clumsy enough to get caught here, then you would certainly get your squad killed in the field. As for the last question… Chūnin are leaders. They much have the ability to lead a squad often into situations that mean life or death. The final question was just a way to see if you would be able to handle being place in a no win scenario, and still come out with the courage it would take to continually face that danger. Ibiki explained. He was going to continue until he felt a familiar chakra signature.

'_Not again, the Hokage's going to bill us for this… AGAIN'_ he thought to himself.

Suddenly a black ball slammed into the window, shattering it and exploding into the room. The ball, once inside the room, seemed to unravel, as kunai were launched from the center. The black cloth was a banner that read 'MITARASHI ANKO, KONOHA'S SEXIEST KUNOICHI AND PROCTOR OF THE SECOND EXAM!', and in front of it stood a purple-haired kunoichi, wearing a mesh-armor body suit, a burnt orange skirt and a tank trench coat. On her shins she wore what looked to be standard ANBU shin guards.

"ALRIGHT GAKI'S! I'M THE SECOND PROCTOR!" Anko said striking a pose. When she heard no applause she opened her eyes to see the genin just staring at her. Give a quick count she rounded on the first proctor, "Ibiki what the hell?! You let 26 teams pass? You're going soft in your old age."

Ibiki just gave a quiet chuckle, "That or this year's applicants are just that good." Ibiki countered.

"Pff" Anko said until her eyes came upon a face she had seen quite a few times. _'This is going to be fun, the gaki made it!'_ Anko thought to herself as her eyes gave off a mischievous gleam.

"It won't matter anyway, because when I'm done with them, they're numbers will cut in half at the very least." Anko said with a creepy smile on her face that sent a shiver up all the genin's spines. Alright meet at Training ground 44 at 9:00 in the morning tomorrow, if you fail to show up or are even a minute late you will disqualified!" Anko said, before she leapt out, breaking the other window.

Most of the genin were a little confused to really follow what all had just happened, or were just gawking at Anko's clothing, or lack thereof. However, they did hear their instructions for the next day and they all began to file out of the classroom. Naruto immediately left for this apartment to make sure he had all of his supplies for the next part of the test. He knew Training ground 44 all too well. It was his favorite training ground out of all of them simply because it was the most dangerous. It was also where he met his crazy friend Anko a few months back.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Flashback!

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

"_Ugh Koko-chan! We have looked everywhere for a damn place to train away from everyone. Everything is too damn open!" Naruto groaned. He and Koko had been searching for a spot to train for a few hours now._

"_I know, Naruto-kun… Hey! What si that over there? The place with the really high fences?" The vixen asked._

_Not knowing Naruto just shrugged, "I'm not too sure… Let's go take a look!" Naruto said, picking up Koko, and using a chakra enhanced jump to clear the fence in one leap. On the inside he came to what looked like a torn up sign._

"_Training ground 44… this is perfect!" he said, dropping the sign back in the grass. Setting the vixen down, they rushed through the giant trees to explore the grounds a bit. They found that it was one giant forest with an assortment of streams, as well as different animals everywhere. The place was perfect for just about everything they needed. The two companions kept wondering around for a bit, trying to find a nice clearing to begin their training._

_Naruto's hair on the back of his neck tingled, and he quickly jumped to the left as kunai passed right where was would have been. However he wasn't so concerned by that at the moment. No, his attention was at the kunai currently pressing against his neck._

"_Gaki… What are you doing here? Who the fuck are you?" Naruto heard, a cold female voice ask him. He could feel the heat of someone pressed closely to his back, and he swore he could feel breasts through his vest. Koko was growling at the woman, her fangs barred. The woman smelled of snakes, and she was immediately on her guard._

"_I'm just here to train. I don't like being around the villagers much, and I didn't want people spying on my training. My friends call me Naruto, but you probably heard me by another name. The 'Kyūbi Brat'. My companion here is Koko." Naruto said, hoping the introduction would defuse the tension. He didn't like having a sharp metal object that could end his life with the flick of a wrist by his jugular veins._

_Hearing the title he said, she quickly removed her kunai from his throat and hopped out in front of him, "So you're the 'Kyūbi Brat' eh? The names Mitarashi Anko, Konoha's Sexist Kunoichi! Though most know me by the villagers title, 'Snake Bitch'. Don't let it get to you, the villagers are just a bunch of idiots. So they give you a hard time too huh?" Anko asked, getting a chuckling nod out of the boy, "Well, we'll show 'em! Tell you what kid, I think I can like you. Normally I don't like others in this place, they generally end up going to the hospital after I get through with them, but make yourself at home here. Just don't get your ass killed! I'm gonna go have fun in another spot, later gaki!"_

_With that the eccentric woman was off like a shot, leaving a blinking duo of fox and genin standing there looking at each other._

"_Umm… Naruto-kun, what just happened?" Koko asked, very much confused._

_Naruto shook the shock off, "I'm not really sure Koko-chan, but I think I just made a friend..." This brought yet another confused look from Koko. Naruto however wasn't paying attention as he was more focused on what she said._

"_Wonder why the villagers don't like her either thought…" Naruto whispered to himself. Deciding to figure it out later, he and Koko went to training right away._

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Flashback End!

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

'_Anko certainly is… interesting. Nothing is ever dull with her around.'_ Naruto thought to himself. _'Shame the villagers are too stupid to realize she isn't her ex-sensei though.'_

After that first encounter, she would meet with him while he was out there if she wasn't on a mission. Once they grew more comfortable around each other, they told their respective stories to each other. Naruto felt Anko had become like an older sister to him now. Well a crazy sister with a slight blood fetish, an outrageous obsession with dango, as well as no sense of modesty, but a sister nonetheless.


End file.
